The Ugly Truth
by Eos Blaze 0402
Summary: Elena Gilbert is the voice of the radio show 'The Ugly Truth' that warms Elijah Mikaelson's cold logical intellect and also makes his cock beg for release. She is recognized by her voice and he by his face. Is millionaire playboy Prince Mikaelson really as ruthless as world sees him and is Miss Gilbert as cynic as she sounds? Read to find out the ugly truth.
1. Chapter 1

**Merry Christmas guys. This is a brand new Elejah, just something I am experimenting with. I don't own Vampire Diaries which is a sad turn of fate. Do read and let me know what do you think of this one and yeah I am gonna update Broken Promises of Always and Forever as soon as I can.**

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**Chapter One**

Love.

If you ask a cynic like me about what love is, you might get an answer on the lines of 'love is a poison ivy that injects the venom in the muscle called heart which is responsible for our every illogical action'.

Love is something I don't believe in. For me it is the border of insanity where you lose all control and just give yourself over to another person. The control freak in me can't shy away fast enough from the concept called love.

Some say love is the most beautiful experience of your life and I say whoever told you that is the biggest liar in the world. Love isn't all what authors and poets talk about, love is no beauty to behold. Ask someone who has loved about what love is and they will give you your answer. You may not like it; it may not be the perfect rendition you seek but that honest gritty truth might save your life someday, it might teach you not to fall in love with the wrong man/woman or not to fall in love at all.

Who am I to give you such sound advice?

Well ladies and gentlemen, I am Elena Gilbert your host and you are listening 'The Ugly Truth' on Diablo 99.9 FM, its hot in hell. I will remind you again, I start taking calls in 10 minutes and a word of advice, don't call if you can't hear the truth. Till then enjoy the latest Maroon 5 hit, Animals.

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It was surprising how a voice could arouse him so quickly. He hadn't been this hard since god knew when. He hadn't even seen the chit and yet he was imagining fucking her in 100 different ways. It wasn't that Elijah Mikaelson was lacking for company. He was rich, famous, and handsome and even had a title. In definition he was modern day idea of a Disney prince but he was anything but prince. He was notorious for his liaisons, be it opera singer Katerina Petrova, stripper Hayley Marshall or porn star Tatia Medici.

He worked hard, he played hard. You were a fool if you desired anything more than casual fuck, money or jewels from Elijah Mikaelson. He would sick his lawyers on you so fast, you wouldn't even get time to put your running shoes on. God forbid you try to trap him in marriage with some feeble excuse as pregnancy.

He wasn't a man who was lacking company or eager partners so it came as a surprise when her voice had hit him like thunder and he had found himself painfully hard.

It had been couple of weeks ago, he couldn't sleep and nothing he read or saw inspired him to do so. He had a meeting with South African consulate for increased investment in diamond mines in the morning and he fucking couldn't sleep.

So frustrated and pissed he had opened the TuneIn app his niece had downloaded on his phone and had scrolled down the list of channels. One in particular had caught his eye for its unconventional name and tag line, Diablo 99.9 FM, it's hot in hell.

He hadn't been prepared for her voice. It had been like a shot of pure ecstasy down his spine, her rich melodic voice and her unconventional ideas.

From that day onwards he had been addicted to it like a drug, her voice that is. It was brilliant, the way she put her logic and made you see something without rose coloured lenses of romance. She was just like him, logical and straight forward.

Her voice made him feel like randy teenage kid he had been, impulsive and out of control. He was horny as hell and insatiable.

Even three mistresses couldn't sate the hunger this Elena Gilbert had ignited in him. Every time he fucked Celeste Warbeck it was Elena Gilbert's voice that egged him on, moaning and gasping his name.

She sounded like his ideal mistress material, no feelings or shit of such kind.

And it was first time somebody was having this kind of effect on his libido.

She was speaking to some woman named April and just hearing that melodious as sin voice had his cock begging for release. It felt as if he could pound nails in walls with the fucker.

He started pumping up and down and her voice provided the background of his fantasy where she was kneeling and had his cock in soft confines of her mouth, her head bobbing up and down on his length. He felt the tell tale pressure of his release.

His mind knew what he thinking these days bordered on insanity but she had become an obsession, a puzzle for a man who loved solving complicated ones.

He walked at a leisurely pace towards his bathroom to clean himself up while in background some girl kept belting about blank space...

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**So what do you think? Love it, hate it? Review below and let me know. And again Merry Christmas folks. Stay safe and count your blessings and yeah don't forget to be happy.**

**Love ya all**

**-Eos**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here is the next chapter. Thanks a lot to everyone who read and reviewed my story. You guys inspire me to write. I don't own Vampire Diaries.**

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Chapter two

Elijah Mikaelson was bored. The same repetitive routine of attending parties and balls with brainless companions was getting tiresome. It wasn't as if the sex wasn't great. But there was only a limit till a man of his calibre was capable of trading a good conversation with a smashing blow job.

His current date, Celeste Warbeck was one of those malnourished beauties that were in huge demand for showcasing clothes. The woman may be an airhead but she gave a good head. Hey he was a guy; he appreciated a good blow job as any bloke.

As far as he could see, the eager mamas of society were out in full force with their equally determined daughters. It seemed being ninth in the line of succession to the Danish throne increased his allure to marriage minded mamas. Even the presence of Celeste couldn't deter or dampen their spirits.

He enjoyed his business, loved making money, and liked donating a sizable amount to the charity but this was the part Elijah Mikaelson hated with gusto. It seemed after marriage of his younger brother Klaus, the Duke of Schleswig with Lady Caroline and engagement announcement of his youngest brother Kol, the Duke of Holstein with his English sweetheart Miss Bonnie Bennett had made him the prime target marriage material in these parties. After all Finn was dead and Rebekah was heaven knew where. God, he hated his family for doing this to him.

He could see the commemoration of new money, old money, no money and fortune hunters beneath this roof. Lockwood's were famous for their eclectic guest list. For instance he could see John and Isobel Gilbert looking as if they would rather be anywhere else than here. They were conversing with Marcel and Camille Gerard, fairly new money if he said so himself.

There was nothing of interest in here but he was still here. Well that went along with the territory. Being a Prince wasn't a very relaxing job in the world. There were lot of formalities to fulfil, a considerable number of obligations to behold. And his friend Damon was absent from this rather dull affair which was another let down. The antics of Damon Salvatore, Grand Duke of Luxemburg were one of the things that made this pretentious shit bearable.

"Elijah I want to dance." Celeste pouted.

She looked rather duckish when she was giving this particular expression. Recently all her expressions were turning him off.

"I am not interested, go find a partner if it's that important for you to dance." He replied tonelessly.

She shut up murmuring something obscene about the princes and their moods. Really couldn't this woman get a hint? He wasn't interested right now. In fact he won't be interested in dancing even when Angelina Jolie herself came and did a nude ballet.

That was before he saw her.

All thoughts of dance, kingdom, boring parties flew out of his mind when his eyes landed on her. She was a babe, he thought in appreciation.

Clad in black from head to toe, she glaringly defied the dress code for the party. Her black full length evening gown draped her body and gracefully showcased her curves. The lace that formed her quarter length sleeves gave a tantalizing glimpse of flesh. Since when was Elijah Mikaelson attracted to a woman who was showing less skin and more clothes? Her blood red nails matched the plump, pillowy lips that looked enticing and Elijah grew a little uncomfortable down his pants imagining the better use of those lips. Her face was covered with a masquerade mask, something that added to her allure. Dark eyes scanned from behind that screen that hid her identity. With her dark hair piled up on her head with few curls escaping, she was his succubus incarnate.

"Where are you going Elijah?" Celeste's whining broke his glazed mooning and he registered that he was already standing. No pun intended.

"I owe someone a dance." He murmured distractedly not noticing the frown on Celeste's face.

* * *

She felt suffocated here. This kind of thing wasn't her scene. Grazing your elbows with rich and famous had never been on her to-do list but here she was.

All these people here weren't the kind she associated herself with.

She looked around in search of bar. She needed couple of vodka martinis in her to pull her shit together. If it weren't for family she would never have come here but you did bizarre things for family.

"Could I have this dance?"

Holy shit, holy shit, it was the playboy prince. She didn't know why the hell he had set his sights on her but she wasn't going to be another notch in his bed post. She wasn't going to be another of his successful conquests. Single heartbreak was enough for this lifetime; she didn't need to add another major one in her resume.

"No, you may not."

He caught her hands in his and pulled her body close.

"It wasn't a question," was his arrogant murmur.

They swayed with the music. His movements were almost hypnotic. She wanted to smash his arrogance to dust but she needed to remember that the similar kind of thinking had made her fall in love with the wrong man and she still was picking up the pieces of her broken heart.

"Are you always this high handed your highness?"

"Only when it involves unwilling beautiful women." He replied smoothly.

"And how do you know I am beautiful your highness? I might be wearing the mask to conceal my imperfections?" her serious tone had desired effect and he looked a bit unsure till the sound of first giggle made past her lips.

"You should've seen your face your highness, you looked ready to bolt. It seems aristocracy still looks up to its traditional definition of beauty."

* * *

What was about this woman? She sounded so familiar as if he knew her but that was impossible. If he had ever known this ethereal creature he would have remembered her. What was about her that attracted him? It was the second time he was hard over the prospect of some woman he hadn't even seen, well properly seen in this case. No one would have dared to talk with him like this, well not anyone who knew him. But this woman, she knew him and still she dared. Incredible.

"I wasn't ready to run. I was just thinking of the ways I could get this off you. Do you like to fuck while wearing it? Sounds kinky."

"Well that is something you won't find out." She laughed.

The music was coming to an end and he could already feel her bidding her time for her escape. This brought Elijah to a situation where he didn't want to let her go. For fucks sake, he was picturing her naked, riding him with all that hair a curtain around their faces and he didn't even know her name.

There was no music and he realized she wasn't in his arms anymore. He could see her reaching towards the door. He rushed after her. He didn't care about anyone who saw him running like a love struck puppy behind her.

"Could I at least have your name?" he panted.

She paused for a moment, thinking about what to tell him. The fact that she was even hesitating before telling him her name was ridiculous.

"Good night your highness and moan Amara while you visualize me and jack off." She left a speechless and stunned his highness Elijah Mikaelson in her wake..

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**What is the verdict? Do you guys love it or hate it? Review below and let me know what you think about the chapter. Elena's dress and mask are on my twitter profile, so is Celeste's dress. You can check them out if you want. The link for twitter is in my profile. Till then stay tuned for the next chapter of 'The Ugly Truth'.**

**Love ya all.**

**-Eos**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all the reviews, favourites and follows guys. You make my day. I don't own Vampire Diaries, so without further delay enjoy.**

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Chapter Three

_**Well the word on the streets ladies and gentlemen is that His Royal Highness Elijah Mikaelson is going to be in U.S.A soon after the wedding of his baby brother, the playboy Kol with the beauty who tamed that said playboy, Miss Bonnie Bennett. So is prince Mikaelson wilder than his baby bro or is he a domesticated man? Who is the new ladylove of his life? All this and much much more coming up in 'The Ugly Truth' on Diablo 99.9 FM, it's hot in hell. I am Elena Gilbert and for your pleasure, its Ellie Goulding with her new hit single, Love me like you do. Enjoy.**_

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Elena Gilbert removed her headphones and a sigh escaped her lips. Night after lonely night she pretended to be this tough woman who critically analyzed the romance, relationships and love, in turn giving advice to people but nobody knew or even came close to guessing that what Elena Gilbert in reality was a fraud. She was a charlatan who humiliated, made fun of people just because they were lucky enough to fall in love with someone which she wasn't. Afraid, scared to trust someone after her horrible dejection, Elena Gilbert hid behind the persona she had created on air.

Like every women her heart too desired a man who thought world started and ended with her. A man who wasn't perfect or rich, just a man who loved her enough, for whom she wasn't a mistress or bedding partner of convenience but a woman whose happiness mattered to him.

How pathetic she was, pretending to be jaded and cynical so that nobody knew that beneath the facade of Elena Gilbert existed another Elena who was a scared little girl hoping mummy and daddy could save her from pain of heartbreak.

Her shift was coming to an end and then all that would be left would be an aching expanse of silence and his memories that would burn with haunting intensity inside her.

* * *

Well, well, well this was starting to look a lot more fun than he had anticipated. His visit to U.S was supposed to be all business but now after he had heard his name in Elena Gilbert's voice that was going to change. He would find Elena Gilbert, he was certain of this. If money could find a needle in haystack, how hard was it going to search a popular RJ?

Prince Mikaelson looked outside the flat expanse of glass to the distant twinkling lights of Eiffel Tower as his current bed companion shifted beneath the sheets. She as a looker all right but she wasn't what you would call trustworthy. Her body gleamed the color of warm coffee under muted lights and her eyes were smoky in invitation.

"Come on Elijah, you aren't starting to grow a conscience now, are you?"

"Do you really think that is gonna happen sweetheart? Conscience and me?" he mocked.

"Then let's not waste this night shall we? Tomorrow I have to go for my gown fitting and after that I don't think we are going to get any free moment with all that wedding bustle." She pouted.

"Whatever you say sweetheart. After all who am I to deny a beautiful woman?" he smirked as he climbed on the top.

"Do you think he suspects?" she asked as he was peppering kisses down her abdomen.

"What do you think? He isn't the one to share. If he had even slightest inkling about what we were up to he would have dumped you quicker than you could say Kol, instead he went out, bought a ring and got down on one knee for you. You know it's quite amusing, world calls him the player Duke but they don't know the English rose he is marrying is quite good at playing with his feelings. So I don't think you are in any danger of being cheated from your royal wedding."

"And doesn't it bother you? Being with me? Fucking me when just after fortnight I would be his wife? After all he is your brother Elijah." She looked thoughtful.

"So what do you want me to say? That I am sorry and we should stop right now when you know you don't wanna? Come on Bon Bon." He scoffed, "do you think I care?"

"No I know you don't." she stated simply.

God in heavens she really tasted sweet, he thought as he licked her pussy and she moaned 'Elijah' or maybe it was because she was his brother's woman and the thrill made it worthwhile. Whatever the reasons were Miss Bonnie Bennett was hell of a fuck.

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Damon Salvatore, grand duke of Luxembourg was a drunk. He wasn't a happy or cheerful drunk, no sir he was downright nasty with a capital Y. He was notorious for his den of debauchery and vices among circle of royals. The invitation to his private parties was equally coveted and dreaded. Nobody wanted to make an enemy out of the man who was as efficient a ruler as he was adept at holding grudges. Right now the said man was sitting on his window pensively looking at the moon and thinking about all that could have been.

He wasn't a repentant or gods forbid a man who felt guilt but recently a face had started to haunt him again. An innocent face with eyes that were naivety personified lips that had tasted of nectar and skin that had felt like heaven. A face that had never belonged to this degenerate circle of royals and yet had been his one solace.

Damon Salvatore was a sinner of first degree and he knew what his gravest sin was. It was something that could never be forgiven, something for which there was no apology and no repentance, something for which there was only punishment. Eternal, everlasting torture.

"Damon, are you coming back? What are you doing out there? Is night far lovelier than me?" she asked as her hands snaked across his chest from behind.

Her touch was repulsive, her words wrong but still he let her stroke him. She was better than nothing. This disillusionment of something was better than nothing.

"Nothing is lovelier than you Amara. Nothing in the world." And the lie was not as hard to utter as it once had been, the sting of sin sharper than it had ever been before...

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**So what do you think guys? Love it, hate it? Review below and let me know. Stay tuned for the next chapter of The Ugly Truth.**

**Love ya all**

**-Eos**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the delay guys, I got busy in some projects. Thanks to all the lovely people who are taking time to read, review, and follow and favorite this story, owe a lot to you guys. I don't own Vampire Diaries.**

**To afan:**

_**Merci pour**__**le complément**__**. **__**Je suis honoré que**__**vous lisez**__**mes histoires**__**et vous**__**les aimez**__**. **__**Mon français ne est**__**pas très bon**__**, **__**se il vous plaît**__**pardonnez-moi**__**donc**__**pour toutes les erreurs**__**que je fais**__**.  
**__**Pourquoi ne pas vous**__**faire**__**un compte sur**__**fanfiction**__**, **__**je serais**__**en mesure de vous**__**remercier**__**beaucoup**__**pour l'amour**__**rapidement**__**vous montrer à**__**mes histoires**__**.  
**__**-Eos**_

**To haribo :**

**Thank You for loving it.**

**So without further ado, enjoy the tale of playboy prince with his conquests and flings...**

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Chapter Four

America was...relaxing.

Far from the world of decorum and protocols, from the carnivorous eyes of paparazzi for whom he was a meal ticket, Elijah Mikaelson could appreciate the beauty that was United States of America or most appropriately the sweet heart of America, Alexia Bronson.

She was sure a fetching sight in her bikini and he was anticipating unraveling the lovely Alexia tonight after the Gilbert's Annual Charity Ball.

He had cut off Bonnie out of his sexual life the moment she had added Mikaelson after her name. It wasn't that great a loss; he had already been tiring of her come hither looks.

All this thinking and pondering over his actions, god forbid, was he growing a conscience? He smirked as he walked back from his en-suite balcony. It would be the last day of the hell when Elijah Mikaelson grew a heart. Feelings weren't for him and he had understood that at a very young age. It was fallacy to think otherwise when you knew, you were flawed since birth, when your own darling mother confirmed it.

What the hell? Was he in a mood for pity party? Damon was supposed to be an expert in throwing pity parties, not he. He would go, enjoy couple of hours on beach with Alexia, endure a fancy dress up and fuck her till she couldn't think straight.

The sun was shining, the surf looked amazing and so did lovely Alexia when he glanced back, with drops of water running down her creamy profile. It was time he joined her.

* * *

Holy Christ, she was made for him to fuck her. That was the only thought that entered Elijah Mikaelson's head when he collided with her and fell like bag of bricks with her in his arms.

She was his succubus incarnate, his siren. He would gladly serve her if she let him fuck her just once. She was made for sex. That slim, athletic physique wrapped in crimson bikini was like wrapper covering his much desirable gift. Those doe eyes bore in him and for the first time in a very long time he felt something akin to tenderness for the briefest span of time. That light olive face, kissable lips and long brunette hair made him want to make love to her then and there. He could imagine that span of dark silk on his pillow in moonlight, she would be exquisite and just like that in a moment Alexia Bronson was forgotten.

She was pressed against him and she fit him like she was made for him, especially fashioned, only for him. She reminded him of someone he couldn't quite recall, maybe someone he had slept with or had he experienced a one night stand with her?

No, she was far too lovelier for a brief fling, she was goddess meant to be worshiped by him.

Her delicious weight in front and texture of sand beneath his back created a rippling effect and if he was not careful, she would know of his arousing thoughts pretty soon, courtesy of the evidence stirring in his pants.

"Can I get up now or do you wanna ogle some more?"

Holy Madonna, that voice, that sexy tango of words coming out from her mouth, it went straight to his cock. His head reeled from the exotic sensation that was this woman. That voice, it was so familiar, a drug shot straight up in his bloodstream.

Where had he heard her?

"Pervert." She elbowed him hard in stomach as she got up and walked away without a backward glance, leaving the playboy prince in sand, unknowingly gawking at the vision that was ethereal Elena Gilbert.

* * *

The nerve of the man, who the hell did he think he was? King of some fucking country? Well technically speaking, he was a prince but that didn't give him rights to view her as if he was inspecting his next brood mare.

The sand, sun and tide, once upon a time she had loved the vivacity of sea, the colors playing on waves when sun went down far away beneath horizon. Once upon a time she mused, when he had been in her life. A man who had changed the fundamentals of her sheltered existence, one for whom she had defied every existing rule, had rebelled against her parents.

She tried to clear her head. After all she had taken this much needed respite to escape the memories that dogged her every moment. Sleeping, waking, dreaming, crying, he haunted her with a tenacity he had lacked when he had been in her life.

She groaned at the direction her thoughts were taking. She had come here to escape, not to pity herself.

She was Elena Gilbert, not some fucking pathetic doxy on street. She was better than this, better than a woman who yearned for a man she couldn't have, a man who didn't want her.

She tried diligently, but her heart, it seemed wasn't in mood to be pacified with false sense of bravado. The woman in her lost the fight and she got up to trace her steps back to the room she had locked herself in from past two days, without noticing the tawny eyes that followed her every step of the way.

* * *

The annual Gilbert charity gala was the biggest event in the top echelon of social circles. It was the Mecca of socialites and whoever got an invitation was somebody worth knowing of the highest order. From kings to presidents, from dukes to diplomats, Gilbert's had hosted a legion of interesting people. They were good folks despite having a shitload of money and that was what made them different from regular rich.

Elijah surveyed the tastefully done decor that screamed style and practicality while lovely Alexia hung on his arm as if he was her anchor in storm.

Her close proximity did nothing. No erotic fantasies, no ideas about fucking her which was rather surprising. He still couldn't get the beach beauty out of his mind. Maybe that was the reason for his affected libido.

Damon Salvatore was absent again and it was nothing new. The grand duke of Luxembourg didn't give a shit about what people thought of him and he was rather adept at getting out of the parties he didn't want to attend.

He could imagine what Damon would be doing right now. Probably hosting another of his bacchanalian parties for royals who were degenerate enough to attend.

How he wished he could get out of his obligations as easily as Damon.

He put on a smile when he saw Tyler Lockwood coming his way with his ex Tatia Medici hanging on his arm. The things you had to do when you were royalty weren't always pretty.

* * *

If he was truthful with himself he would admit that his eyes were searching for the beauty in the mask, _Amara_. He expected to see her here but then maybe it was a fanciful notion. Not everybody got one of the much desired invitations inside the Gilbert home. Alexia was getting boring and he didn't know if he was even interested enough to fuck her. His mind wandered again to the beauty on the beach and he was surprised to find that he felt a bit weird thinking about two women simultaneously. It had never happened before. God forbid was he subconsciously thinking about being monogamous after colliding with some strange woman on shore?

He was lost in thought and that was the reason he didn't notice when her fingers crept in his and she gave a soft tug towards the numerous couples who were dancing. When his eyes met hers behind the elaborate obsidian and crimson half Venetian mask she wore, he found what he was looking for. The gleam of mischief fused with heady cocktail of sex.

"Amara." He breathed.

"Your highness." She answered as she moved in his arms reminding him of someone else he couldn't quite remember properly.

Today her dress was a profound ruby and cerise one shoulder, mid bodice affair with rosettes sewn throughout, a look she carried with panache. The bold emphasization of red on her lips was like a homing beacon, inviting him to close the distance.

The slow tones of the song changed the playful mood and charged it with under currents of sex as he pulled her closer, almost too close to see the dark rich coffee of her eyes and the long sweep of the lashes that came down, cutting his gaze too shortly.

_**Love that once hung on the wall  
Used to mean something, but now it means nothing  
The echoes are gone in the hall  
But I still remember, the pain of December**_

_**Oh, there isn't one thing left you could say**_  
_**I'm sorry it's too late**_

He could feel her stiffen as he turned her and then pulled her close. He didn't know why, but he disliked that doubt and flicker of pain that crept in her eyes.

"What is it?" he murmured.

"Just something that hits too close to home." She replied as her head rested lightly above his heart, swaying in his arms as he held her close, safe and secure.

_**I'm breaking free from these memories  
Gotta let it go, just let it go  
I've said goodbye  
Set it all on fire  
Gotta let it go, just let it go**_

With her hands in his, he felt as if he could take on the world, win any battle, and defeat any foe. What it was about her, he wondered.

As they swayed with the music, two lost people in sea of people afraid to trust, something tentative crept beneath their hearts, a slight whisper of something to come, a promise they could behold.

"You know he is the biggest fool, whoever he is."

She looked startled like a frail beautiful bird on the verge of flight, terrified and vague.

"What do you mean?" her voice was the softest of tremors that pierced him more sharply than any knife or sword ever had.

"The man who put that fear in your eyes. You are one in million Amara and he was some guy who was probably too terrified to take the jump."

She looked at him as if he had grown horns, probably because it was the first time he had been truthful not for something he wanted for himself but just for the sake of being honest.

"I hope you are right Your Highness." She managed to chuckle lightly as he twined his fingers more tightly with hers while walking back towards a table in center.

"Haven't you heard sweet Amara, I am always right." The aristocratic arrogance of his voice hinted at smoky nights and tangled bodies.

* * *

The castle of Grand duke of Luxembourg was silent. There were no gaily laughter's of women drunk on flutes of champagnes and orgasms, no grunt of men emptying themselves in the warm heat of women. The Grand Duke Damon Salvatore sat in his study, his hands tracing the face in snapshot almost reverently.

Tears kept slipping from the corner of his eyes, wetting the already battered picture.

It was her birthday and no one would remember, he had made sure of that. Left her alone and hurt, without anyone she could call her family. He was the architect of the palace of pain she lived in, a cruel coward god who had fashioned her destiny from thorns and needles.

There were thousand different words of apology and yet he couldn't say a single one. Some mistakes were unpardonable; some cuts ran too deep to heal.

'_You were a monster and blinded by my love I forgot that predators never love, they only prey. So, maybe I deserve this because I was the fool to love you Damon, I forgot to look for the demon that resides beneath your skin.'_

'_You are a frigid bitch. I needed you for sexual gratification, not marriage and you can't even give me that. Your sister is far better than you were. She at least knows how to please me in bed. I have no use for virgins or recently deflowered virgins in that case. Go learn some tricks first sweetheart, and then if I am in mood we will talk.'_

The last words he had ever said to her, in the full court where she had been naive and vulnerable, innocent and tenderhearted enough to love a monster like him.

He had stripped her bare for those predators to feast and had seen the debacle with cold detached heart which broke every moment they jeered, gave her lecherous glances as if she was a piece of meat in the market.

Beneath the haze of power he had lost his humanity and his heart, the heart that yearned for her sweet tender touch, the heart that craved her innocence in every beat it took.

The innocence she had gifted him had been his most precious present and yet he had discarded it, sullied it beyond recognition.

The tears kept falling and yet the pain didn't lessen, the sobs were silent in his throat and his heart shattered over and over again without any sound.

"_Happy birthday, Elena."_ He whispered. His voice mingled in the soft darkness of night, the only witness of his grief.

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**Love it, hate it? Review below, let me know. You can see the pic of Amara's dress and mask on my profile page, the link is there. Till then, stay tuned for the next chapter of 'The Ugly Truth'.**

**-Eos**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the reviews, favs, favorites and follows. You guys turn my frown upside down. **

**I don't own Vampire Diaries but I wish I could.**

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Chapter Five

"A pretty woman like you shouldn't be sitting alone, love." He drawled as he dropped in the chair next to her.

Her face was behind the recent James Rollins thriller but he was certain she was far from reading. If anything, she must be clenching her teeth hard in frustration.

The woman who led you a merry tune was worth pursuing in his opinion and especially a woman like her. An Aphrodite among ordinary humans.

Elijah Mikaelson's beach beauty was still silent as stone but it was no issue. He would wear her down.

"You can't be mute, not after branding me pervert yesterday." He tried again.

She snapped her book shut with enough force to crack its spine. The red staining her cheeks wasn't blush and fire in her eyes was anything but arousal.

"Why are you harassing me?" she fumed.

"Trying to talk to a beautiful woman isn't harassment." He drawled silkily.

"It is if the said woman is uninterested." She retorted.

"Touché. But you are far too intriguing to be left alone."

A small smile curved her lips at his constant persistent. She knew he wasn't going anywhere until and unless she agreed to talk to him and who knew, it could be fun.

"So you always start like this with beautiful woman, your highness?"

"No, usually I have them carted off my personal space by truckloads and call me Elijah."

"Quite popular with ladies aren't you?" she asked.

"Do you count yourself in that list?" he enquired back, mirth dancing madly in those treacherous eyes.

She laughed and it was a beautiful sound. It was like revelation, the ringing of church bells, and the offer of redemption.

He shook his head to clear out the weird thoughts. What was happening to him?

She was getting up and he was a bit confused.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to meet some people today." She replied apologetically.

"So when will we meet again?"

"Let's leave that on fate and chances, Elijah. Till we meet again, your highness." She bent and her lips grazed his cheek lightly and then she was walking away.

"At least tell me your name?" he shouted after her.

"Elena." She briefly turned to answer and then she was gone, leaving him dazed and aroused, without even trying.

* * *

Damon Salvatore was tired after his hour's long flight. It made no difference even when you owned the plane. This trip to America was the necessary evil he had to endure otherwise his kid brother Stefan would have thrown a huge fit.

The emptiness of his room made him want to pick up the tumbler of whiskey sitting innocently on his bed side table.

America always was a bitter sweet experience. Here he could feel himself close to her and yet that closeness was too much to handle, too much to bear.

His phone vibrated to signal the oncoming call.

He briefly glanced only to be surprised. Why was Elijah calling him? Had the other man missed him so much? The last thought was hilariously ironic.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, your highness?" after all this was the man who had taught him the etiquettes of debauchery.

"Damon, still the sarcastic son of bitch I know."

"Are you feeling okay? 'Cause I feel you have suffered a head injury by the pleasant cascading tones of your talk."

"Bastard. Just wanted to inquire after the degenerate duke's health." The nickname still left the taste of acid in his mouth and yet he had learned to tolerate it, even relish it.

"What's gonna happen to me?" he paused, "What about you? Still banging your kid brother's wife?" he added as an afterthought.

"Nah. Got bored, so ditched her. Where are you?" Elijah Mikaelson was even more depraved than he was, beneath the mask of politeness and those impeccable royal manners of his.

"In my suite at Waldorf Astoria in New York. Why?"

"Call it a coincidence then, I am at Astoria too. Care for a drink?"

It was better to be in Elijah Mikaelson's company right now than being alone.

"I will be down in couple of minutes."

With his mind made, he exited his room and walked towards the lift when the scent assailed him, the same familiar scent that he associated with everything good that once had happened in his life.

He turned to look back in the corridor and stopped.

Destiny couldn't be this merciful to him and cruel to her, could she?

She was inserting her key card, humming to herself; a soft smile lighted her face.

"Elena." She froze as a scared rabbit when she heard her name, her eyes unwittingly finding his and the heartbreak spilled in form of tears as she stood rooted, looking at the ghost of a man who had materialized back in her life with vengeance.

* * *

Elijah Mikaelson was seething silently. He had been waiting for more than two hours and yet Damon hadn't shown his face.

One thing that Elijah Mikaelson hated more than his mother was being late and there was no one who got on his nerves for being late than Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Where was the bloody bastard?

His mind wandered again to his beauty of beach, 'Elena'. If she thought he was going to leave their next meeting on the fickle whims of fate, then she was wrong. He would wine and dine her tomorrow and hopefully she would be in his bed by tomorrow night if he had his way.

The burn of whiskey no longer registered in his throat. It was long practiced talent. One he had acquired by drinking himself to stupor for most days of his teen years.

His phone rang which irritated him to no end. If it was Alexia, he was hanging up straight.

But the familiar number of his Prague palace made him pick up the call. It could be anyone, from his sister-in-law Caroline to his brother Nicklaus but the voice on the other end wasn't the cultured English accented voice of his royal brother.

"I am pregnant, Elijah." And the world as he knew it tilted and cashed on its axis...

* * *

**Evil of me, I know. Sometimes you have to do evil things for the grand good of things. So, drop a review and let me know what you think of this chapter and story so far. Stay tuned for the next chapter of 'The Ugly Truth'**

**Love ya all**

**-Eos**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the reviews, favs and follows. I don't own Vampire Diaries.**

* * *

Chapter Six

Forgive me, I say,

Mutter the words and pray,

For all the sins I have done,

For stealing your hope,

For killing your sun.

Won't you even look this way once?

My eyes bleed from all the repentance,

Say you forgive me,

Even when my transgressions are grave,

This guilt is sweet cloying honey,

That slowly chokes me to death…

-Dimitte by Lucifera Santez

* * *

Pregnant. The word resonated in his head again and again and the shock robbed him of his voice for few moments as he walked towards his room. But he was Elijah Mikaelson and nothing fazed him for long, be it crashing profits of his company or the news that his brother's wife was pregnant with his child.

There wasn't a problem in this world that couldn't be solved by money, there wasn't a thing that couldn't be bought with money and there wasn't a person who didn't have a price.

"Take care of it Bonnie. You and I, we both know the fetus in your womb wasn't part of our deal." He drawled.

He could hear the sobs on the other end, as if the crocodile tears were going to move him. Women could produce those tears on demand if he paid them enough.

"Will you stop it? You might fool Kol but you don't fool me with those sobs."

"But Elijah-" she started but he cut her in between.

"Frankly, you are imposing on my time Bonnie. Go to Switzerland and let the good doctors take care of the problem. You aren't fostering the ideas of bringing that thing in this world are you?" he asked.

She was silent; apparently the sobs had dried down.

"You never cared, did you?" the question was expected.

What the hell did she think? That he had loved her, cared for her?

"You still have a doubt? If I had cared, I would have snatched you right beneath from Kol's nose. Do you think you were something special? That you were someone I was ready to change for?" he laughed, "You were just a body Bonnie. I fucked you, you thought we were making love, whatever term you use, the basics remain the same, we had sex, we were consenting adults who had sex. I don't think I need to explain more than that."

"Please don't do this Elijah. Please don't tell me to have abortion." Her voice was as broken as she felt in that moment.

"Is Bonnie Bennett begging? I never thought you would go down that path sweetheart. Is calculating Miss Bennett giving evidence that she has a heart? The woman who whored herself to her husband's brother?" he mocked.

"It's your child too, Elijah." She reasoned again.

"I will have nothing to do with that thing. Rip it away, keep it, give it up for adoption, I don't care. Don't expect anything from me other than the million that I will transfer to your account." He spat.

"Elijah, please don't do this to me." Maybe tears were streaming down her expressive eyes and maybe she was gripping the phone too tight but he didn't care.

"You want to bring that thing in this world? Fine, but don't even dare to put my name on your bastard's birth certificate. Pass it off as your husband's for all I care."

Silence reigned for few moments but then her voice softly reached him, a plea for understanding, for compassion.

"You would do that to your own brother Elijah? Please don't make me do it. I can't let Kol think it's his child. I won't be able to Elijah. Please."

Sometimes he wondered if the word please was concocted by some damsel in distress or some female in equally dire condition because every time a woman wanted to fool you, to play you, she shed some tears and said please.

Did Bonnie think, he was a fool? Did she really think he cared whether or not she cuckolded his brother? Elijah Mikaelson was way past in his life to care, way deep in mistakes of his doing to ask for repentance.

In simple English words, he didn't care.

"Then tell him who fathered the bastard in your womb, Bonnie. Tell him how you prostituted yourself to his elder brother. Tell him how you left his bed, only to slip in mine. Can you tell him all that Bonnie? Can you tell Kol that the wife he so dearly loves is nothing but a whore? Can you tell him that?" he hissed, "or do you want me to tell him? It would sure be a very interesting conversation. We could compare notes on your performance in our beds."

"Elijah, please, please I beg you, Kol must never know about this." She pleaded.

"Then don't be pathetic and don't call me ever again to deliver the news of my impending fatherhood." He snarled and threw his phone against the wall.

* * *

As Damon walked towards Elena, she walked back. Like a terrified animal she cowered in the fear of what would happen when he touched her. She had thought that she was over the monster that bore the name, Damon Salvatore, but as her breath hitched in her throat, she knew that she was far from being all right, far from being over the heartbreak this man had awarded her.

"What do you want?" she gasped, her voice breaking and her eyes shedding those precious tears that he didn't deserve.

What could he answer her? What could he say? That he was sorry? That he regretted every moment that had created this chasm between them? How could he make her understand that he had known too late what it meant to squander your most precious belonging? He had no right, no right at all.

Why was he still standing here? Had he not done enough? Had he not injured her enough?

Couldn't he be selfless for once?

Even if he didn't want, his feet carried him close to her on their own violation. For him, she was his absolution, his redemption. He wanted to touch her once, to see if destiny hadn't decided to play even crueler joke on him. She was backed against the wall, her eyes wild.

His fingers trembled as he reached out to touch her cheek, she flinched.

When tears escaped the prison of his eyes, they were not for him, they were for her. What had he made Elena Gilbert?

He had murdered her innocence and hadn't even paused to mourn the passing.

The regret was sharp, pain blinding in its intensity but still he wanted to feel. It had been so long since he had felt, so long.

He gently pulled her in his arms. She was stone, cold and unresponsive. He clutched her tight just to be assured that this was not some macabre dream of his. He had wronged this woman far gravely than any other. She was his one regret, one torment that was far different than countless else.

She still smelt as she used to. A smell that was distinctively Elena.

His lips sought her skin. She was the drug he was forever addicted to. He kissed her forehead, kissed those wet lashes and his lips were about to touch hers when she turned her head.

"No. You broke me once, you won't break me twice." Her voice was a murmur, as she pushed him away and ran, with tears in her eyes and lead in her heart.

He watched her until she made a turn and disappeared.

His knees gave away and he sank on the floor, a man hounded by his mistakes and nightmares…..

* * *

She didn't remember how many shots of tequila and glasses of whiskey had raced down in a blazing trail of fire down her throat. Even after this much alcohol, she couldn't forget that the ghost of her past had returned to haunt her with vengeance.

Someone slid in the chair next to her.

"Drowning your sorrows, Elena?" the voice was oddly familiar. She turned to see Elijah Mikaelson looking at her with barely suppressed storm of rage in his eyes.

"Something like that." She muttered.

"Now I wonder what a woman like you would be regretting. Maybe an ex-lover?"

* * *

**So what do you think? Review below and let me know. Till next time, stay tuned for the next chapter of 'The Ugly Truth'.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you so much for your reviews, favs, follows and sorry for the late update. I don't think people at CW would ever accept if I proclaimed to be the creator of Vampire Diaries.**

* * *

Chapter Seven

Tied to a sallow heart  
Why does he want to bring me where he goes?  
Oh and to find out the reasons why  
It's enough to make you wanna try for one last night

Ghosts and silhouettes  
They take a piece of me, they want it all  
Oh but to wait in an empty room  
With the feeling that it's closing in…..

-One last night by Vaults

* * *

It had been surprising to see Elena downing glass after glass of whiskey, wine, bourbon; anything she could get her hands on. From what he had deduced about her personality, she seemed like a controlled individual. So imagine his surprise when he had spied her losing her inhibitions. Maybe he was wrong but there was a bleakness around her that resonated with his.

Fucking Bennett. She had known before starting the affair that child or love wasn't part of the equation. And he wasn't supposed to deny when a women propositioned first. It wasn't his goddamned mistake when his brother's wife had been inviting him with her thighs wide open.

Anger was the only thing that his mind registered, so he didn't notice when it spilled in his question. And the wise crack about forgetting ex-lover was out before his brain consciously registered it.

She had gone white. And he knew his supposition had hit the mark. It was another thing all together that he didn't like the image of her and another man that his mind conjured. He saw as she slowly reeled her obvious tells beneath the cloak of sarcasm and inebriety. He had seen a look like that once before, he just couldn't remember on whom.

'Love is such an inconvenience, isn't it Elijah?' she sounded so forlorn and for a moment he forgot all about Bonnie and the fetus.

'Well in my highly valued opinion things like love don't exist. They are just bogus rumors by commercial profit earning conglomerates.' He deadpanned.

For a moment she looked at him as if he had grown antlers, which was quite disconcerting and then she started to laugh. He liked her laugh.

'You will scare off Disney people with opinions like that your highness. I had heard the rumors that they were planning to offer you the role of Prince Charming.'

'Charming?' his mouth curled in derision, 'I would make an awesome villain.' He exclaimed.

'Listen to you talking about being a villain. Such conviction, Your Highness. Have you done many villainous things to deserve the title say like kidnapping a maiden or plotting to overthrow the king?' her face was duly serious but her eyes twinkled.

'Not on the lines of what you say. But yes I have done things that make me stand far off from Charming.' His eyes had faraway look, as if he was relieving a piece of his past that he had quietly not forgotten.

'Oh hell. I am sorry if I made you remember something you don't want to.' Her playfulness was gone, leaving a surprisingly sober Elena behind.

'Rest assured darling, I don't rue what I have done to be what I am.' His smile was ferocious, brutal in its beauty.

And in that moment Elena understood that His Highness Prince Elijah Mikaelson was far more deadly in his cruelty than Damon Salvatore would ever be. This man had never felt remorse and by the looks of it he wasn't going to start now. He was likely to laugh in your face as he broke your heart in two.

But still this realization was not enough to stifle the painful rejection that had cut across her heart a long time ago. Here sitting with him, she could almost forget her humiliation at Damon's hand. She could almost forget that she was scared of sex. Maybe Elijah Mikaelson had that magnetism, that raw sexuality that loosened your inhibitions.

Here in this hazy grandeur filled with smoky music and grinding bodies, she wanted to court the danger, the thrill, and the rush that was Elijah Mikaelson. She would depart early in the morning tomorrow, not wanting to stay now that she knew Damon was here. So why not indulge herself. She knew his royal highness wanted to fuck her. So why not fuck him instead?

He could make her forget. Oh yes, he could make the memories go away, if only for a night.

He was looking at the bottom of his empty wineglass, staring as if the glass could reveal all the answers he couldn't find.

'So, you wanna fuck me Elijah?'

To say that Elijah Mikaelson was gobsmacked would be like proclaiming Damon was going to marry. It took him a moment to compose himself, to make sure that his jaw wasn't on the floor or his hair wasn't standing at the ends.

'Pardon me?'

'I said do you wanna fuck me your highness? You know have sex, make love, frolic, fornicate, dance in sheets, horizontal salsa?' She thought he was too royal to know what fuck meant?

'I know what fuck entails Elena. Might I enquire the reason behind your request?' his cock was standing at full attention. Damn why was he being polite again?

'Oh don't plead innocence Elijah. I know the way look at me.' now she turned completely in his direction, leaning in his personal space; her lips were inches from his own as she looked him in the eye, 'I know the way your eyes unclothe me, as if you would like to tumble me on next available flat surface. Why waste your time on wining and dining me?'

Then she took his bottom lips between her teeth and bit him sharply.

His Royal Highness Prince Elijah Mikaelson had been courted by experienced courtesans, he had fucked exquisite exotic beauties and yet a bite got in his head as nothing ever had.

* * *

Kol Mikaelson, Duke of Holstein was in a very good mood. His wife Bonnie may think that she was going to surprise him but he knew her secret. He knew her body better than his own. He knew each curve, each dimple, and every ounce of her weight. So when she had started to rush to bathroom in the early mornings and avoid certain food items with fervor, he had known. He had known with a certainty, a happiness that had come from deepest recess of his heart that he was going to be a father. Two years ago, he wouldn't have contemplated children let alone marriage, but then he had met Bonnie and he had fallen for her in a heartbeat.

He loved her, loved her with passion and tenderness that was going to last an eternity. No matter what people said, what Elijah said, love existed and it mattered.

When he came to stop before their bedchamber, his hands tightened their hold on the roses he was holding. Blush pink roses, they were Bonnie's favorite. She was going to be surprised that he knew. But then he loved her, who was he supposed to know better than her?

* * *

Elena didn't know how they had reached his room but now that they had, he had pinned her to the wall as he plundered her mouth. His kiss was as rough as his touch. His soft but firm lips moved ruthlessly over hers and his tongue probed her mouth, greedily drinking her essence in abandon.

She could feel his cock, aroused and throbbing through his dress slacks against her thigh. His hand fisted in her hair, as he tilted her head a bit more to nibble on her neck.

He tore her dress in his quest to get her naked. And then he feasted on her breasts.

Piercing, scrapping, licking, nipping; he made them throb and hurt in desire. She tried to undo the buttons of his shirt but tore them all in her haste to touch his skin. Her hands moved with tactile delight over the hard smooth planes of his chest. The heat from his skin warmed her from inside as craving was a languorous, sinuous affaire.

He relieved her of her flimsy lace panties, tearing them with his bare hands. She wrapped herself like a vine around him, absorbing his very spirit. He carried her to his bed and threw her on it. He was undressed in record time, divested of his clothing and then he came over her.

He was beautiful. All smooth planes and hard angles covered with skin of burnished honey. When she looked lower; well he was aptly endowed, a polite way to say that his cock was huge. She wasn't experienced but she wasn't a blushing virgin too. So she knew a thing or two about cocks. Not too much mind you, just enough to get by.

Then he started his journey to map every inch of her skin and she paid the favor in kind. Suckling, tasting, savoring, biting she left her mark on him as he marked her.

They were two bodies entwined tightly with each other, coiled where there was no beginning or end.

Then he reared up and when he plunged in her without warning, she arched from the bed. The sensations were too much. He was stretching her to the extent where a little pain heightened the pleasure. She had just grown accustomed to him inside her when he drew back and plunged again.

She moaned, a guttural sigh coming from deep inside her. His hands were busy in roaming her flesh and hers were scratching his back. He pinned her to the mattress as he pounded in her again and again, pleasure a building crescendo that rose higher and higher.

So when it crashed they came down with a shout, together. Panting with the exertion that passion had left in its flamboyant departure. After a moment he rolled on his side, taking her with him. He held her as they drifted to sleep, a first for Elijah Mikaelson as he had never taken part in intimacy after sex.

During the night they woke now and again and sated their desire. When morning came, she left his bed with dry eyes; left him sleeping as she disappeared, leaving no note in her wake.

* * *

**Review below and let me know what you think.**


	8. Chapter 8

**TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY. I have been so busy with college. Anyways here is another chapter of 'The Ugly Truth'. And this is a very important announcement wherein I pledge to weekly update this particular story. Thanks for all the love you guys have spared for this Elejah fic. This wouldn't have been possible without you. Thanks for reading, reviewing, liking, following this story. It is very sad that I don't own Vampire Diaries. CW won't even gift it to me on my birthday.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

On the first page of our story  
The future seemed so bright  
Then this thing turned out so evil  
I don't know why I'm still surprised  
Even angels have their wicked schemes  
And you take that to new extremes  
But you'll always be my hero  
Even though you've lost your mind

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn  
But that's all right because I like the way it hurts  
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry  
But that's all right because I love the way you lie  
I love the way you lie  
Oh, I love the way you lie

-Love the way you lie (part II) by Rihanna

* * *

The glaring rays of sun woke him up from his deep slumber.

For a moment he wondered where he was, but then her smell assailed his senses and the memories drifted to him like gentle breeze. The night he had spent with her was the best night of his life, and he didn't say that only in the context of sex. He had never slept this soundly in his life.

He reached out for her, his eyes still closed against the reality but all he could find were cold sheets.

And that woke him up properly.

There was no sound of running water, no tap of a coffee cup being deposited on table, there was no humming; there was just silence. Elijah Mikaelson wondered where she was. Had she gone to her own room? Was she embarrassed, now that she remembered how bold she had been after the alcohol had loosened her inhibitions?

He rose up from his bed and headed towards the bathroom. He would go, and knock on her door after he had a shower. He had found his center of stability and he was damned if he was going to lose it. He would persuade her into being his mistress.

* * *

The little boy on her right was adorable. People generally didn't want to fly economy but she loved it. It gave her a chance to thrive on people and their personalities without the fear of forming attachments or being found out for the imposter she was.

Elena Gilbert was a coward.

It wasn't a fact she herself denied. In fact she was her best critic.

She had done something she had known she would regret in the morning, but then those few stolen hours with Elijah Mikaelson had made her forget Damon Salvatore, it had made her forget herself.

She smiled as the boy next to her chatted 100 miles an hour about batman.

She didn't know why she had invited Prince Mikaelson to fuck her or maybe she did. Maybe she was a masochist. Maybe she enjoyed ripping herself over and over again. If it wasn't so, then why had she followed on to the invitation he had issued almost seven years ago?

She still remembered him. In fact she remembered him far more clearly than any of those wolves who had wanted a piece of her when Damon had humiliated her, and had cast her out of his life with no inconvenience. She still remembered the cruel twist of his lips when he had seen her.

Elijah Mikaelson. The man who had kicked her when she had been down once. The man who had twisted the knife Damon had left in her a bit more.

She still remembered how it had felt when she had walked out of Damon's party, well orgy. She could never forget how Damon Salvatore had broken her heart.

_Elena was sure Amara had just wanted to make her feel insecure; her twin had a habit of doing that. Otherwise there was no way what she was saying could be true._

_Damon loved her; he had said so before he had made love to her. Before he had claimed her innocence. She wasn't sorry for waiting all those years when Amara had kept dangling her conquests before her. She was happy she had waited. Nothing could equate to what Damon had made her feel. Now she understood, why it was called making love. _

_She smiled and shook her head when the hostess offered her coffee. She was in a flight bound for Luxembourg city. _

_She was going to meet Damon; she was going to surprise him. She didn't believe in her twin's vicious lies, she just wanted to see Damon. It had been three months since she had seen him and it had been two weeks since they had talked. She knew he was ruler of Luxembourg and time really wasn't something he had in overabundance or even in abundance but she really missed him._

_She had taken a taxi and when it had deposited her in front of the daunting gates of the Luxembourg palace, she had felt a tendril of fear creep in her heart. It looked like Damon was having a party. Each battlement and arch was festooned with light. She could see people getting out of their expensive cars in equally expensive dresses, laden with what looked like gazillions of diamonds. The guards at the gate had given her a curious glance._

'_When did you go out Miss Amara?' that statement alone should have raised her hackles. She should have returned from there only. She should have forgotten about Damon Salvatore. For once, she should have believed in her twin's lie for it had been truth._

Now sometimes when she thought about all the ifs, buts and coulds, she wished for once she had listened to Amara. She wished she had never seen what she had seen that day. The day when her love had been murdered and her innocence sullied. The day she had lost everything including her self respect.

_This party wasn't like the ones mum and dad hosted. In fact, this was no party at all. Wherever her eyes landed all she could see were bodies in varying states of undress. It had shocked her still inexperienced twenty year self. But all this was nothing compared to what she had seen when she had opened the door of a room on the first floor. _

_It had been her Damon, the man who had proclaimed to love her, the man who was fucking someone who was definitely not her._

_She should have run away then but maybe she really was masochist._

_A broken word had slipped past her lips and he had just turned to see who had interrupted him. There had been no guilt on his face when he had seen her, no pain. He hadn't even paused. The man who had been her first love._

_She had seen the face of the woman beneath him. And her face had stared back at her, the eyes had held no compassion just glee and viciousness._

_It was at that moment when she had run. Watching Amara beneath Damn had ripped the rose colored lenses on her eyes. Watching Amara relish in her broken heart had been something of a wakeup call._

_She had been running when she had collided with him. Prince Elijah Mikaelson. She had turned her head in apology and shame because her eyes were full of tears, tears for her dead love._

_He had taken her arm and asked about her well being. But maybe then he had seen her face and he had known who she was._

Some people claimed they knew who Elijah Mikaelson was. They didn't. She knew who he was. Someone who loved inflicting pain and misery on people who were far away from his depraved state.

_He had taken her upstairs again. For a moment she had thought he was going to demand justification from Damon but then she had heard his mocking voice and she had known that real princes were different from those who existed in fairytales. Real princes only knew how to hurt. They didn't know what love was._

_Elijah Mikaelson had stood on sidelines, watching as Damon had stripped every piece of her dignity before the people who had assembled for a night of debauchery in his halls. Elijah Mikaelson had stood on sidelines when they had leered at her, the men who claimed superiority on the account of the blue blood that ran in their veins. He had smiled at the sight of her wet eyes when he had taken her hand to guide her out. She had thought he was going to do a kind deed but then he had pulled her closer, bruised her lips in a single touch of his lips. His eyes had hardened when he had left her to stumble._

'_Find me when you learn those tricks that Damon mentioned darling. Right now you taste too much of naivety, far too much of it for my tastes.' And he had turned and ascended the steps from where he had dragged her down in guise of help._

So she had found him, after seven years she had found him and had delivered on that promise. It didn't matter that he didn't remember a girl of twenty he had destroyed. There were few people left who remembered what Elena Gilbert looked like. There were very few people who even remembered that Elena Gilbert was alive.

Choices, they defined the pathways of your life. They defined who you were. Her one choice had made her an orphan despite the undeniable fact that her parents were alive. Amara was the only daughter for them now, Elena had died for them. Elena, who had made a mockery out of the Gilbert name in the lofty circles of European aristocracy, Elena who had been a fool to give her heart to a man who played with hearts on regular basis? Amara was the one they cherished, Amara who had upheld the dignity and gravity of Gilbert name on her back in Damon Salvatore's bed.

It was all the matter of choices.

She turned and smiled at the boy who was trying to gain her roaming attention.

Her life had meaning. She was living. She was doing something she enjoyed. It was okay if she had no one. It was okay if she turned to talk to someone and found only silence for company.

It was okay. She was okay.

* * *

Kol Mikaelson paused before the door of his bedchamber with roses in his hands. He couldn't imagine that he was going to be a father.

When he opened the door, the sight meeting his eyes wasn't the one he had ever anticipated.

Bonnie lay on their bed, her wrists slashed as blood gushed out, leaching her life in front of his eyes. The roses fell down, those blush pink ones that Bonnie loved to have, on the ground as he ran towards his wife.

Her eyes were glassy, her voice choppy.

Why had she done this? Why?

Later if someone ever asked him how he had saved his wife, he won't know what to say. He wouldn't remember how he had torn the sheets and wrapped them around her wrists to slow the bleeding. He won't remember her weak voice as she had muttered, 'letter' and tried to point at the piece of paper on her bedside table.

He won't remember picking up that letter with his bloody hands and shoving it in his pocket. He won't remember his frantic run with Bonnie in his arms as death sniffed at the edges of her life.

But he would always remember reading her letter. He would always remember what it said. He would always remember that there was no agony greater than love…

* * *

**REVIEW, GUYS. IT WOULD BE THE PERFECT BIRTHDAY GIFT. **

**Review below and let me know what you thought of this chapter or what you think of story this far. To all those amazing people who reviewed as guests, I love you guys and I wish there was a way I could message you back.**

**So, stay tuned for the next chapter of 'The Ugly Truth.'**

**-Eos**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you for the reviews and birthday wishes. You guys are the best. Now for the part that I don't like doing at all; I don't own Vampire Diaries. **

* * *

Chapter nine

I was wrong, I will cry  
I will love you till the day I die  
You were all, you alone and no one else  
You were meant for me

When morning comes again  
I have the loneliness you left me  
Each day drags by  
Until finally my time descends on me

I go to sleep  
And imagine that you're there with me  
I go to sleep  
And imagine that you're there with me

-I go to sleep by Sia

* * *

_Dearest Kol,_

_Once upon a time, I thought love was something that could be measured in diamonds you wore, designer labels you purchased or millionaire you married, but then I met you. And my perception of love changed. I could be a liar here, and proclaim that I loved you from the moment I saw you, but I didn't Kol. I fell in love with you when you held my hair back as I vomited my breakfast. I fell in love with you when you stopped drinking coffee even though you loved it because I couldn't bear the smell. I fell in love with you when you held me in your arms, and comforted me without asking what bothered me even for once. I fell in love with you Kol; I fell in love with you. It was not something I had planned; it was not something I had ever dreamt of, but it was the most beautiful feeling I had ever experienced in my calculating phony existence. _

_You were my angel Kol, your brother Elijah my devil._

_I slept with him until the last evening before our wedding. I took your words of love, and ground them beneath my feet in haze of lust. I felt as if I was the most cunning woman alive, playing the two brothers; marrying one while sleeping with another. I fancied that Elijah had affection for me. How stupid I was? How ignorant of the gift that was right in front of me? You loved me Kol, but you were just a means to an end before I fell in love with you. You were my ticket of having anything I desired. You were my passport to the land of wealth. I know even my million words of apology won't be enough to lessen the gravity of what I have done._

_I am pregnant Kol. I know you know about it, and I know you think this is your child, but it's not Kol. It's Elijah's. For him my baby is just an inconvenient fetus. He went to lengths to suggest that I should pass it as yours if I am so adamant about bringing this child in the world, but I can't do that. I can't make you a fool Kol. I can't let Elijah feel smug after every time he sees the child and thinks how expertly he passed on his burden to his younger brother. _

_I love you Kol, I fell in love with you when I was pregnant with another man's child. You may not believe it now when you are reading these lines, lines that shriek about my sins, but I really do love you. And because I love you, I can't see that light in your eyes turn into maniacal gleam of insanity. So, goodbye Kol. I will be gone when you read this, and that is a solace for me. At least you won't have to face the prospect of confronting your whorish wife._

_Someday you are going to meet a person who will deserve you, as I have never deserved you. Someday you will have love that lasts for a life time._

_Your wife,_

_Bonnie._

His world crashed. It exploded into million little pieces, and when it came together again it was jumbled and fuzzed. Kol Mikaelson couldn't comprehend the fact that his wife had tried to kill herself, and on top of it, this letter conked out his heart with every proceeding line, and he could do nothing to stop it.

He couldn't imagine how Elijah could do something like this? Had he no heart?

Kol had always known about his brother and Bonnie; had always suspected what was going on behind his back, but he had never shown it, had never demanded explanations from Bonnie. He had loved her, he loved her, and loving her meant accepting her. He couldn't discard her for doing something he himself had indulged in. He had known about their affair before his marriage, but he had never known that the baby he had been so overjoyed about had never been his.

He knew his family was by no means a conventional family. The royal blood in their veins made them different from other people, but did it make them apathetic?

How could Elijah be so callous?

He knew his brother was cold, but he had never known the degree of his depravity before. Kol could have loved the child. He could have loved the baby as his own. He had seen what their father's hate had made Nicklaus before he found Caroline. He had seen his father's revulsion for their half brother.

But he was no Mikael. It would have pained him to accept that his wife had violated his trust in such heinous way, but how could he hold a baby responsible for the mistakes that were Bonnie's and Elijah's?

He remembered the day when all of them had been teenagers, and Klaus had gotten a severe beating at the hands of their father. They had hidden their brother in one of the spare rooms where not even cleaning staff bothered to venture. In the dead of the night they had crept in the room with food, and wine they had sneaked from kitchens, and it had been Elijah who had taken the beating in Klaus' stead the next day when their father had come to know about it.

Where had that noble Elijah vanished? When had his brother changed so much?

'Your Highness.'

He turned to see the grim faced doctor standing with his head bowed.

His heart thudded, and for a moment it felt as if it would stop. Had he lost Bonnie?

He barely held on to his composure as he gestured the doctor to speak. His eyes were dry, but inside he was a mass of heartbreak, agony and tears.

'We managed to stop the bleeding but we couldn't save the baby.'

Bonnie was alive. It was the only thought that flashed on the forefront of his mind, but then the second part registered and he felt like vomiting.

Elijah had killed his own child. He had driven Bonnie on the edge of a cliff from where she had seen jumping as her only way out.

He didn't remember if he had thanked the good doctor or not. He willed his body to walk till the end of corridor where his knees gave away and he fell in an empty chair. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how he was going to face Bonnie, and tell her that she was alive at the expense of their child.

He didn't know when Klaus and Caroline came for him. He didn't remember when they settled on the either side of him; a strong solid support. He didn't retain when tears made their way out of his eyes and he broke in Caroline's arms crying for a future that had been murdered by his own brother.

* * *

Prince Elijah Mikaelson had hoped to gather the information about Elena as quietly as possible, but when he reached the reception, someone was already there inquiring about the whereabouts of lovely Elena.

'What do you mean she checked out? Did she leave any forwarding address?' a very irate Damon Salvatore was gritting his teeth and hissing at the receptionist.

'We are very sorry Your Royal Highness, but we don't divulge information of our guests. It's against our confidentiality policy.'

At first Elijah thought that Damon was just after address of some broad he had spent his night with. Elijah was glad Damon had decided not to join him.

'Elena Gilbert. Her name is Elena Gilbert and I know her. Is that not enough for you? I want to talk to your manager, call him here this instance.' Looked like Damon was in full Grand Duke mode.

Wait, had he said Elena Gilbert?

* * *

**DUN-DUN-DUN. A cliffie. Please don't hate me for it. So what do you think of this chapter? Review below and let me know. Till then stay tuned for the next chapter of 'The Ugly Truth'.**

**-Eos**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks a lot awesome, lovely, amazing, talented people. Thank you for taking some time out of your busy lives to read my stories. You don't know how happy you guys make me when you review.**

**And now I will have to mention that I don't own Vampire diaries which I don't wanna do, but I will have to. Now on with the story…**

* * *

Chapter Ten

Leave me out with the waste  
This is not what I do  
It's the wrong kind of place  
To be cheating on you  
It's the wrong time  
She's pulling me through  
It's a small crime  
And I've got no excuse….

-9 Crimes by Damien Rice

* * *

Damon Salvatore wanted to tear the heart out of this idiotic receptionist. Did he look like a stalker? Why couldn't these people just give him Elena's address?

'Damon?' Fuck, it was Elijah Mikaelson. It looked like his day had taken a turn for worse.

He turned to see the Prince of heartless bastards strolling towards him. There was intent in those eyes, a purpose that made Damon's hackles rise. What did this man want now?

'Did you say Elena Gilbert?' the question was casual but Damon could read the urgency in his tone and those eyes that had seen every degree of debauchery a human could think of.

'Yes.'

'And would you humor your old friend and explain how you know the lady?' Elijah smirked, but it seemed forced.

Did he not remember the girl he had humiliated? Did he not remember his so called lessons that had prompted Damon to discard the only good thing that had ever happened to him? It looked like years of partying had caught up with the playboy prince if he did not remember the girl who was still the topic of avid interest in parties after alcohol was freely consumed.

Damon Salvatore hated Elijah Mikaelson. Beneath the façade of civility, politeness and friendship, he hated Mikaelson. Why was Elijah showing so much interest in Elena all of sudden?

He walked away from where the Prince Mikaelson was standing without giving a backward glance. He heard the footsteps behind him as he walked towards the pool. And unsurprisingly Elijah caught up with him in less than few seconds.

'What was that about?'

'I am in no mood to entertain you Mikaelson. Just leave me be.' Damon spat.

'After you tell me what lovely Miss Gilbert means to you. And why were you asking about her address from the hotel receptionist. Was she staying here?' Had he missed the owner of that seductive voice and cold rationality while he was pursuing his Elena?

His Elena? When had she become his Elena?

Elena?

Oh lord! Not Elena Gilbert he had thought of finding, right? Surely she couldn't be just staying in the same hotel as him. And surely he hadn't fucked her and felt as if his ugly soul had died and taken a new birth? His Elena couldn't be 'The Elena Gilbert of the ugly truth' right?

Damon was watching Elijah closely and that tell tale gleam in his eyes was something that Damon had been a witness to countless times before. So, the bastard didn't remember who Elena was? It would be his pleasure to refresh Elijah Mikaelson's memory, and to crush that speculative gaze in his eyes that hinted at lust.

'So you don't remember Elena, do you Elijah?'

'Oh I do old friend. I remember all the delicious ways I had her last ni-.' And the end of his sentence was cut with an abrupt fist smashing in his jaw.

What the fuck? His head was still ringing from the abuse of his poor bones on the hands of Damon Salvatore's fists when he felt another smashing in his eye. He literally saw stars. This bloody won't do. If Damon wanted a fight, then he was more than charged to deliver one.

'You bloody bastard. You seduced her, didn't you?' Damon was shouting, his fists plummeting Elijah repeatedly and he was being plummeted in return.

'Seduced? More like she seduced me. She was the best one night stand I have ever had.' He came to his defense forgetting that his defense sounded way too taunting to count as defense.

'You bastard. You bloody bastard, you don't remember her, do you?' Damon slammed him into a wall.

'How the fuck do you want me to remember her when I have never met her before coming to America this time?' he snarled, backing Damon in a corner and letting his hands do the rest of talking.

They didn't care that they had attracted spectators, they didn't care they were on the verge of being plastered on the front page of every national newspaper across America and Europe if not the world. All they cared about was a slip of a woman with doe eyes and soft brunette tresses, seductive voice and an underlying innocence.

'Oh you met her Elijah, you met her all right. Seven years ago, you were the one who taught me it was foolish to settle for one inexperienced girl when I could have all the whores of Babylon on my feet, begging to be fucked. You were the one who poisoned my love, weren't you Elijah? You were the one who had delighted in dragging Elena Gilbert back to the room where I was fucking her twin sister. You were the one who had taken a taste of her lips and proclaimed she should search you out when she was experienced enough. Don't you remember Elijah?'

Why was his vision going dark? Why did he feel like vomiting? He could feel the bile rise up in his throat. It had never happened before. Was he growing a fucking conscience?

'Don't you remember the sick games you and Amara delighted in playing? Don't you remember the hitch of her breath when you used to listen her cry when Amara taunted her with all the details of what went in between me and Amara? Don't you remember your amusement Elijah? Don't you remember my cruelty? After all you were the one who nurtured it, weren't you?' Damon continued.

He wanted Damon to stop. He desperately wanted Damon to shut up. He could feel the world spinning and for a moment he wanted to sit down, he wanted to run away. He wanted to do anything that could help him escape this hellish feeling.

'She was just a game for you. Seven years ago, she was just someone who had the misfortune of being in your radius when you were bored with everything in your life. Her misery was your entertainment, her tears your amusement. And you say you don't remember her Elijah?' Damon's voice was bleak, a saga of everything he had lost.

Elijah felt himself stumbling. His one eye was swollen shut, his nose was bleeding, his knuckles were raw and yet he couldn't feel anything. After years of thinking he had been numb, today he truly was numb, and he found that he didn't like the feeling at all. He felt hollow, void of everything. What was happening to him?

'She is the whore in the circles of aristocrats who reveal in the fact that they have a blue blooded lineage. And you know who made her that? You did Elijah. You were the one who played the macabre game of deception because you couldn't stand her innocence and her naivety in my life or so you said. But it wasn't the case, was it Elijah? You were jealous of my happiness. Jealous that happiness had found me worthy and you, lacking.' Damon was lost in the poisonous memories that never let him breath; never let him die in peace. They never let him forget the travesty of his sins.

'Stop it.' he said, but his voice came in faint whisper of begging.

He never begged. Why was he starting now?

They didn't know when their bodyguards had hauled their collective asses in a suite, where Damon was sitting on floor, and his back against the wall. Elijah was few feet's away from the Grand duke of Luxembourg.

'Why should I stop Elijah? Did you stop when you were constructing a hell for me? Did you pause to think that maybe I loved the girl whose innocence you couldn't stand?' Damon whispered brokenly.

Elijah couldn't answer. All he could hear was Elena's breathy whisper of his name when she had orgasmed around him. All he could see was her eyes, those beautiful doe eyes that had beheld his as he had slipped inside her. He had never known peace, never known what heaven felt like.

She had been that slice of heaven, that balm of peace he hadn't known he had been searching for.

Had he destroyed her even before he found her?

But then he always destroyed things. What was new in that?

His heart hurt when he thought about Elena being at the mercy of his nastiness. He had no qualms about himself. He knew he was a monster, had always known he was a monster, but right now he didn't want to be one; didn't want to believe that his Elena had once been Damon's.

Elena. She had worn the marks of his passion on her body with the same confidence as one might wear diamonds or pearls.

'I wish I had listened to Stefan. I wish I had listened to my baby brother.' Damon sighed. 'You killed your own brother Elijah; you killed your own child. What chance had I against the ruthlessness that runs in lieu of blood in your veins?'

* * *

**So what do you think? This Elijah is quite unpalatable, isn't he? Destroying lives left and right, what are we going to do with him? Let's wait and watch, shall we?**

**Review below and let me know what you thought about this chapter or what you think of story in general. Stay tuned for the next chapter of The Ugly Truth.**

**Love y'all.**

**-Eos**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you guys for the reviews. I don't own Vampire Diaries.**

* * *

Chapter Eleven

I look and stare so deep in your eyes  
I touch on you more and more every time  
When you leave I'm begging you not to go  
Call your name two or three times in a row  
Such a funny thing for me to try to explain  
How I'm feeling and my pride is the one to blame  
And I still don't understand  
Just how your love could do what no one else can

-Crazy in love by Beyonce

* * *

Elijah Mikaelson was back in London and between the thighs of another supermodel whose name he didn't remember. She was all breathy moans and whimpers, a practiced cacophony of responses that were grating on his nerves.

The only thing that helped was her averted face and brunette locks that were mockery of what Elena's hair had felt like in his fingers. He kept kissing her mechanically, something he had done incalculable times before like an automaton and he knew if he started thinking he would never be able to do this. He would never be able to touch another again.

So he forgot all those memories, all those accusations that stung like welts on his skin, and he plunged inside the woman who was spread like a feast on his bed. His thrusts grew rougher and yet the woman didn't rake his back with her nails, didn't claw on his shoulders; she kept moaning in that marginally pretending voice of hers. When he came he felt as if he had taken a dip in the lakes of putrid festering sins. He didn't care that he had left her wanting, didn't care that she didn't have a single orgasm. He knew he was a bastard, god he was a monster if he was being truthful to himself, but he had never been a selfish lover.

He had used the women in his bed, but he had never left them unsatisfied, but after his confrontation with Damon he didn't care. He didn't care for anything anymore.

He didn't want to feel, and sex helped him forget or so he thought. It made him forget the way she had kissed him, made love to him. Yes, she had made love to him. Nothing that beautiful could ever be only sex. He would know because no one knew the difference better than Elijah Mikaelson.

'Elijah-' the woman called in a husky whisper, hoping to lure him back in bed, hoping he would finally satisfy that craving he had ignited.

She had heard about Prince Mikaelson's sexual prowess from numerous other models, but experiencing it first hand was something else entirely.

'Get out.'

His reply was curt and she thought she had misheard him. But when he turned his eyes weren't clouded with desire, they were bleak and sad; something she was sure Prince Mikaelson didn't notice or care for anymore.

He was a beautiful man. All lithe lines and ropey muscles; Prince Mikaelson was an epitome of old world handsomeness and class. His voice was an affair of cultured syllables and husky voice; something that made you think of night and the desires it brought in its cloaked embrace.

He was everything a woman could ever desire to have, or so many thought including her.

She knew she was staring. Standing at his window that awarded him a perfect view of his famous gardens, he looked so alone. There was loneliness in the very air he breathed, a stillness she knew no one could penetrate. Foolishly she had thought she might be the one to pierce his infamous stone cold heart.

She had dyed her hair brunette from her natural honey bronze when she had heard through the grapevine that Prince Mikaelson preferred brunettes as his evening companions recently. It was desperate of her she knew, but then if coloring your hair brought you in notice of a man world whispered was richer than Croesus himself, it was worth it or so she had thought.

Lying naked in his bed, she felt cheap and used.

She had never felt like this before.

He had never kissed her on lips or whispered her name. She wondered if he even remembered her name. He had gone through the whole thing as if he expected himself to have sex with her.

'I said get out.'

His voice was cold, as if every emotion was dead; as if he was dead inside.

She got up hurriedly and put on her dress; not caring that she looked like a whore leaving his bed. She ran out of his room with her heels in her hands, and she didn't care if he saw tears slip out of her eyes, or heard the sob escape her throat.

* * *

Elijah sat in the study of his London manor, the letter his brother Kol had sent for him clutched in his hands. It said Bonnie's child was dead.

The result of his sin was forever gone and instead of feeling happy, he felt hollow. He should be elated that now Kol would never know how Elijah had made his brother's love nothing but another notch on his bedpost. He should be happy that child was gone.

But all Elijah could remember were cries of another time, a woman shrieking at him to save her baby, his wife begging him to save their son.

He had been a husband ages ago, when his heart had been a little less cold, a bit more malleable than stone. He had been a husband when he had not been jaded enough. He had been an expectant father when he had been naïve enough to think he could change himself.

But the death of his child and his wife had taught him that he had been born to be a monster and there was nothing he could do to change it.

He still remembered every word Damon had hurled on him. Even countless nights with countless unknown bodies had not succeeded in erasing those memories. Nights fueled with sex and alcohol had failed to erase Elena from his mind.

He had never been a man who felt guilt or longed for something he wanted, but dead in the night in his dreams he saw her. Elena, his Elena. Happy, exuberant and loving him. He saw a future that could never be his. He saw a home that was theirs, a bed they shared and babies who called him dad in their lisping voices. Boys who dragged him to play ball in the extensive grounds of his manor, little girls who gave him gummy smiles and drooled on his shirts.

The sun had seen him waking with salt on his cheeks and need in his eyes.

Two months had passed since he had left America.

He had gone to Monte Carlo and immersed himself completely in the night life. He had gambled carelessly, recklessly and yet every turn of the dice had brought him more money than he had use of. He had gone to Moscow next.

From Moscow it had been Paris, Milan and countless other places before he had landed in London yesterday.

He had tried to run far away from the memories, but they had dogged his every step.

He needed to forget himself. He needed to be the man he had been before Elena, because he didn't know how to be anyone else; didn't want to be anyone else.

'Mason bring the care around, we are going to 'Vice'.' He drawled as he locked the door of his study after him, vowing never to set another foot inside in near future.

* * *

Two months had seen a lot of change in Kol Mikaelson's life.

He had been out of the country the moment Bonnie had been discharged from the hospital. Thankfully media had not got the wind of Bonnie's suicide attempt. The official story was that Bonnie had miscarried the baby.

He was not angry with Bonnie, he was hurt. And so he had packed his bags and left for U.S the moment she had been back in his castle. He had left detailed instructions with his staff to care for her properly. He talked to her twice a day. Maybe he needed distance to get over the fact that the woman he loved had done something he had never expected her to do.

He was in Mystic Falls, Virginia.

It was a quaint, little town famous for Diablo 99.9 FM or more precisely the show 'The Ugly Truth' which was hosted by lovely Ms. Elena Gilbert. He had not chosen this town only to escape, but also to start righting the wrongs his brother had left in his wake. And no one had suffered more than Ms. Gilbert.

Two months had seen Elena Gilbert befriending one Kol Shaw despite her policy of no friends. Kol had been persistent.

So here he was, waiting outside the building at midnight for her shift to end.

He saw her rushing towards him, a scowl on her face.

'What are you doing here?'

'Waiting for you darling. I thought you would like my stellar company.' He pouted.

She walked muttering non-stop under her breath. He fell in step after her. She was beautiful when she lectured him on all the pros and cons of why they couldn't be friends despite the fact that she spent 90% of her free time with him.

She was a picturesque contradiction.

'Why the drama darling? You knew I would be waiting.' He said as he took her hand and started guiding her towards his car.

'First- I have told you not to call me darling and second, you are an idiot.' She answered as she in turn started to drag him towards her car.

This continued for another five minutes after which they broke down laughing in the parking lot.

She rarely laughed.

She looked so innocent when she laughed.

'Shall we go home or are you interested in sitting here for whole night?' he asked a smile lurking in the depths of his eyes.

She started laughing again as she dragged him down with her again.

They were two lonely souls drowning their sadness in the companionable joy of having someone to share something trivial with…..

* * *

'Vice' was abode of sins, an Eden for sinners.

Once he had patronized the black glass doors of this club where he had revealed in the dominant aspect of his personality; a cure for his less than ruthless tendencies if you will. Today he needed to be that Elijah again because there was no place for feelings in his life.

When he entered the room he knew she would be waiting for him.

She had been an eager bed partner when he had frequented this establishment. She could take pain with much more ease than the rest who worked here. His tastes had bordered on cruelty, and she had taken pleasure in his brutality.

She was kneeling in the center of bed. Camille Moreau.

'Strip.' He ordered without further ado as he locked the door of the room after him.

His demons had found him once again and he would be damned if he was weak in face of his past that wore the mask of submission and had kiss of venom…

* * *

**So what's the verdict? Elijah is continuing on the path of destruction and Kol is doing the damage control for his brother. Review below and let me know your thoughts.**

**Stay tuned for the next installment of 'The Ugly Truth'.**

**Love y'all**

**-Eos**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you amazing, lovely people who read and reviewed my fic. You guys turn my frown upside down. I maybe a bit late in posting this chapter. I am so sorry for that, but I had my exams. I don't own Vampire Diaries, just this story…**

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Beauty queen of only eighteen she  
had some trouble with herself  
He was always there to help her, she  
always belonged to someone else

I drove for miles and miles and wound up  
at your door  
I've had you so many times but somehow I want more

I don't mind spendin' everyday  
Out on your corner in the pourin' rain  
Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile  
and she will be loved, and she will be loved

Tap on my window, knock on my door, I  
Want to make you feel beautiful…..

-She will be loved by 'Maroon 5'

* * *

Kol Mikaelson watched her sleeping form on the front seat of his car, and sighed. He had told her innumerable times that she needed to lighten her workload, but did she listen? Evidently no.

Elena Gilbert looked almost peaceful as she slept. The demons that plagued her in her coherent state were less persistent in her sleep, or so he thought until he heard her first scream.

She thrashed against the seat belt. Her struggle was animalistic, as if she was trying to escape herself. Kol stopped the car on the side of road and tried to calm her down but to no avail. She kept holding her stomach with one hand while the other rose to shield herself from blows.

What had happened to this girl?

Watching the tears stream down her eyes as he shook her broke his heart. He got out of the car and came to her side, opening her door and picking her up. She curled in him, shaking and begging someone to not hurt Damien.

Who was Damien?

'Elena, wake up darling.'

Her eyes fluttered open as her struggles ceased.

'Where is Damien? Is he okay?' she muttered.

'Who is Damien, darling?' she seemed disoriented. Her eyes were intent on his face.

'You are him, aren't you? Elijah. You look just like Elijah.' She was still in trance? Or had she recognized him? In this moment he didn't want to be associated with the man world knew as Elijah Mikaelson.

'No darling, I am Kol. Remember?' oh god, her wide eyes were so innocent. They only held curiosity. What had happened with her? Whose scars graced the beautiful soul of this gentle creature?

'Kol? Damon doesn't love me. It was all a game. How am I going to tell him about Damien?' her eyes held questions whose answers he didn't know.

'I don't know who Damien is, darling. Do you have an address? I could take you to him.'

And maybe his kindness was what broke her trance. He knew she came rushing back to reality the moment those curious eyes clouded with grief, and innocence died in those depths to give birth to misery that flowed from those world weary orbs of brown.

'He is gone.' she sobbed, her face buried in his shirt, hands curled in the fabric.

'Elena, darling who is gone?' he was afraid to hear her answer, afraid to confirm what he had suspected the moment he had found about Elena Gilbert.

'Damien, my Damien.' Oh god, oh dear god. Kol didn't want to ask her who Damien was, didn't want to hear that his brother had played a part in killing another innocent life.

'Who was he Elena?' his heart was trembling.

'My son. My sweet Damien.' She sounded so broken. She was broken.

His legs wanted to give out, but he had no choice. He had to be strong for her. He sank on the ground, his back propped against the car with her still in his arms. She curled in him, as if he could take all her wounds that hurt. He could at least try, couldn't he?

'Will you tell me about him?' he asked. He was sure of her denial, so it came as surprise when her teary voice started to paint a picture of such heartbreak that his hands tightened around her. This woman had never done anything to deserve the cruelty that the world had dealt to her. She had done nothing but love a man who had been too selfish to see the gift she had bestowed on him.

He was disgusted to call Elijah his brother. He knew who enjoyed the sick games like one Elena was describing to him. He perfectly knew the man who played with people like people played with dolls or maybe he didn't know Elijah Mikaelson at all.

'…I called Damon again and again, but every time he was the one who picked up and every time he just laughed when I pleaded to talk to Damon. I had to talk to Damon. Finally after a month I broke down, and I told him I was pregnant with Damon's baby. You know what he said to me Kol?' her eyes held his and in them he could see the world as she had seen it. Brutal, merciless and without compassion.

'He told me whores around the world called Duke of Luxembourg everyday claiming he was the father of their children. It didn't make him the father, did it?'

'Shhh! its okay, darling.' He wanted to tell her that she was an angel in this world inhabited with sinners. He wanted to tell her that she was anything but a whore. But what could he say in face of the story that was introduction of devil he had misfortune to call brother.

'My parents threw me out when they found I was pregnant, and my twin Amara told them how I had ruined the family name when I had spread my legs like a common tramp for Duke of Luxembourg. They never believed Damon could be the father of my child. I was too stupid, too ordinary in comparison with Amara to catch someone's eye.' He had thought only his childhood had been the affair from hell.

Who in their right mind thought she was ordinary? She was the most extraordinary person he had ever met in his life. He had thought Bonnie's betrayal was the worst he had ever come across, but this was far more painful. She had survived despite everything. This strong courageous woman had survived his brother's cruelty when she had been nothing more than a girl.

'I just had my high school degree and no work experience. Who was gonna hire a pregnant girl straight out of high school?' she was lost in some other time and he was lost in the face of her strength.

'I got the job to clean the bathrooms of Mystic Grill. I, who had never even dusted a single shelf of my room at Gilbert estate, cleaned the bathrooms of Mystic Grill. Those first months felt as if I would die, but I had to live for my Damien.' Her face lit up with a smile he had seldom seen. She had loved her son as he had loved his.

'He was the most beautiful baby ever, Kol. He had Damon's eyes and his skin and his nose and his mouth. He was a mini replica of Damon.' Kol would never know what his baby would have looked like. Maybe he would have favored Elijah or Bonnie or maybe he would have been an entirely different creature. Bonnie had taken that chance from him, and Elijah had forced Bonnie to do so.

'What happened?' he asked for he knew she wasn't a woman who would ever abandon her child.

'I wasn't enough for my Damien. I worked hard and lived frugally, but even then it wasn't sufficient to bring up my boy properly. I called Damon again, and he refused to acknowledge that I could ever have a child fathered by him. He told me to do whatever I wanted with the kid, and to never call him again.' she paused, as if to gather her courage, as if she was terrified she would drive him away with whatever she was going to say next.

'I gave him up for adoption. He was only one and half months.' She sobbed. 'I gave away my baby, Kol.'

He rubbed her back in comforting circles. She had done what she had thought best for her child. That didn't make her a monster; it just made her a mother. God knew she must have suffered, and yet she had handed her baby to the strangers so that he could have a better life. She was so brave, this woman in his arms. He had never known another human being who had fought against whatever life had thrown at them, and succeeded despite the odds. Maybe once he had, when his brother Elijah had been someone who had taken Mikael's blows for his siblings, who had worked day and night to restore the fortune of his siblings that Mikael and Esther had run to ground.

'Do you know where he is?' he asked quietly. If she wanted, he would trace her Damien for her. It was least he could do for her when her each agony was inflicted by the man who shared Kol's DNA.

'No, and I don't want to. He is happy wherever he is. He has a family and that is all I ever wanted for him.' The smile on her lips was a sad manifestation of her strong heart.

He stared at her for a long moment. She fidgeted but he tightened his arms around her.

'I am so proud to be your friend, Elena.' He meant every word.

'And I am thankful that you are mine.' She murmured as she relaxed and closed her eyes.

'Do you have any plans of getting up? Sorry to tell you but you are quite heavy darling.' He complained while mirth danced in his eyes.

She opened one eye, 'deal with it.'

And they both laughed while sitting at the side of the road in the dead of night like crazies. In that moment Kol Mikaelson vowed that he would never let Elena know, that he was brother of the man who had brought only agony and misery in her life. And Elena Gilbert vowed she would never let Kol know that she had known all along that he was Kol Mikaelson. She was happy with Kol Shaw, and he would always remain Kol Shaw for her…...

* * *

'Eight' Camille Moreau counted in breathless whisper. The cane came down sharply on her butt. Recently there was a cruelty in Elijah that had never been there before. He had dominated her frequently, but had never left her unsatisfied. These days their sexual encounters were all about his gratification and her punishments.

She didn't know what he was punishing her for. He never faced her when they had sex. He would always mount her from behind, or she would have a blindfold when they were on the bed.

In those scant moments when he would be getting ready to leave her bound and gagged, humiliated on the bed he had paid for, she saw the eyes that were clouded with pain.

Who was he forgetting between her thighs?

What was he running from?

* * *

**So what do you think? Review below and let me know what you thought of the chapter. Till then stay tuned for the next chapter of 'The Ugly Truth'.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you for the reviews. I don't own Vampire Diaries or Daniel Gillies but I would like to…..**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

You had the drink, you take a toke  
Watch the past go up in smoke  
You fake a smile, ya, lie and say  
You're better now than ever and your life's okay  
But it's not, no

First, you think the worst is a broken heart  
What's gonna kill you is the second part  
And the third, is when your world splits down the middle  
And fourth, you're gonna think that you fixed yourself  
Fifth, you see them out with someone else  
And the sixth, is when you admit that you may have fucked up a little

-Six Degrees of Separation by The Script

* * *

Elijah Mikaelson was propped against his headboard nursing a glass of scotch. He was awake in the dead of the night, as sleep was playing the cruel game of dreams with him these days. He was knocking glass after glass to induce enough haze over his brain, so that he could shut his eyes for couple of hours without those dreams.

Loneliness was the favorite company of his these days. He had stopped going to the 'Vice'. He could not make himself touch other women. It looked like his brain had been rewired to just think about Elena these days.

Elena, Elena and only Elena.

Doing what he had done with Camille disgusted him when he thought about it now. He spent his days working over his varied business interests, and his nights were in arms of any liquor that could make him forget who he was.

This change had not been sudden. It wasn't as if he had been fucking Camille one night, and suddenly his heart had decided to ignore all the flavors of debauchery in favor of a single woman.

No, it had been her voice; Elena's voice.

He had returned from 'Vice' that day. He had reeked of sex, and the perfume Camille lavishly used on herself. He had been a bit drunk, and in his drunken state he had opened the TuneIn app and clicked on 'Diablo 99.9FM'.

She had been talking about friendship that day. She had been enumerating how a good friend changed your life. There had so much conviction and passion in her voice when she stated that friendship was the only relationship that was based on selfless motives between individuals. She had gone to dedicate a song to her friend 'Kol' who was the most amazing person she had ever known.

He had wanted to be that person; the person whom she loved with that passion and defended with that conviction. He wanted to be the most amazing human being she had ever known. He wanted that voice to mutter secrets in his ear in dead of night. He wanted those hands on his skin, those fingers leaving bruises on his body when he loved her.

He wanted her, no he needed her.

He had lain in his bed, wide awake as he had heard her voice, and drifted to sleep with a sad smile on his face.

Elijah Mikaelson didn't remember all that Damon had accused him of. He didn't remember taking hand of an innocent girl to drag her back to the room, where the man she had loved had been fucking another. He didn't remember tasting the lips of a naïve Elena only to mock her.

The liquor, the drugs and the orgies had maybe erased his guilty conscience. What more had he done to her? He shuddered when he thought about it, the depravities his younger self had indulged in. He had fashioned himself after a word his mother had repeatedly called him. He had made himself a monster; he had not been born one.

He had started to visit the charities he donated to, and in a way he felt like he was atoning. Maybe this life time won't be enough, but it was a start, wasn't it?

Elijah had not always been Elijah Mikaelson world saw him as. When he had been young, he had wanted to teach. He had recited all his grade school poetry for young Rebekah, and had helped Nicklaus with his sums. He had been delighted in making young Kol write his alphabets again and again, till his brother got them right.

He had loved his siblings, even distant unemotional Finn.

He could pinpoint the exact moment when he had started morphing in this man he had been from past several years.

It had all started when he had been sixteen.

It had been his mother's birthday, and she had been drinking. After putting his siblings to bed, he had gone in search of Esther, and had found her with the second bottle of gin nearly finished. She still had the bruises where his father had hit her in the evening.

He had guided her to her room in the farthest wing of the palace where she claimed she couldn't hear her rug rats making any noise. In reality she hid from his father, and from them. They were the reminders of her toxic years spent with Mikael.

'You are exactly like him, Elijah. Your father.' She had said. His skin had crawled on the mere mention of Prince Mikael. A quick answer had been ready on his lips about how he and his father were two very different people. But then she had said something he would always remember.

'You remind me so much of what I lost Elijah. I hate you so much. I hate you for reminding me the night when he first raped me; took my innocence and discarded me like I didn't matter.'

He had left her there, and had run back to his room to vomit. Esther had rewritten who he was with couple of sentences. He had tried, god was his witness he had tried so hard to be the man everyone had wanted him to be. He had been a stellar brother, a good son despite what Mikael and Esther were, and a good person, but the rot in his genes had started manifesting after his parents had made him marry Princess Sage of Monteria. He had done it because it had made his parents proud of him for the first time in his life. He had never known he would be killing his brother to make his mother and father happy.

He had never known that Finn had loved Sage; never known Mikael had bullied Finn to step aside. Elijah had never known Sage had married him against her will. He felt like devil himself when he thought about Finn and Sage, felt like a rapist when he thought about his wedding night. He had taken what should have belonged to Finn.

He would never know how his brother had lived under the same roof as him and Sage knowing that he could never have her, knowing that the woman he loved belonged to his brother.

Finn had committed suicide when Sage had been seven months into her pregnancy. Elijah had killed his brother. He was the reason Finn had taken his own life. The news of Finn's death had shocked Sage and she had gone in early labor. He had been her husband; he should have known the sadness that lurked behind her smiles, the tears that she hid expertly behind the discreet dab of tissues, the sobs that she muffled in her pillow. His son had been born premature, and even a legion of world renowned experts couldn't save him. Sage had followed his son after two weeks. She had lost her will to live. It was as if Finn had taken her soul with him.

He had buried his wife and child after two weeks of his brother's death. And then he had immersed himself in making money, and exploiting every facet of his monstrosity.

Now he realized he shouldn't have.

The vibration of his phone jarred him out of his morose thoughts, and he realized his face was wet with tears. He hadn't visited the graves of his brother, his son and his wife in seven years, he had never felt worthy to disturb the sanctity of their resting place, but it was time he sought forgiveness for everything he had done.

The number flashing on the screen was the one he was familiar with. It was the number of Kol's palace in Holstein. Why was his baby brother calling him out of blue?

But it wasn't Kol who was on the other end of the line. It was his wife; the woman who had recently lost Elijah's baby.

'Elijah?' her voice was quivering and timid. Guilt assailed him again. He had not only made a mess out of his life, but had destroyed lives of many people he didn't even remember. Bonnie Bennett was someone he remembered.

'What is it?' his voice was tiered.

'He knows.' And his world crashed on him again.

Kol knew what Elijah had done. There went another nail in his coffin. He imagined Kol coming to confront him. What could he say to his brother that would ever make up for what he had done? In the hindsight Elijah realized that he had done the same thing to Kol, as he had done to Finn.

Maybe Damon was right. Maybe he was jealous of everyone's happiness, and maybe that was the reason he sabotaged every one's elation. What could he tell Bonnie? Did he say sorry for goading her to kill their child? What was he going to do? Console her because her husband knew his brother had sex with her?

'Bonnie I-' he stopped. Even now he couldn't utter the simplest word of apology.

'He is gone, Elijah. He found someone else.' She was crying.

What? This was unlike his brother. The Kol he had known would have come to confront him directly. He would have knocked Elijah's teeth in his lungs. This was unlike the brother he had known.

'When did he come to know about the baby's parentage, Bonnie?' Elijah had to be the rational one in this situation.

'He has known since I lost the baby. I thought I would die; I hoped I would die. I wrote him a letter. I told him everything. He deserved the truth.' She whispered.

Was she crazy? Elijah doubted her mental status right now. Why the fuck had she decided to come clean all of sudden?

'And he didn't divorce you? I am surprised Kol overlooked betrayal of this magnitude on your part.' It wasn't only her betrayal, it had been his too.

'He isn't you Elijah. He is thousand times the man you could ever be. He saved me; ran all the way to the hospital with me bleeding in his arms. He cared for me while I was recovering. He brought me back to our home after I was discharged from the hospital. He knew about my betrayal all along.'

His brother had known for all this time? His brother had known about his sordid act while he had written that curt letter about the death of the baby?

'Then what do you want from me, Bonnie?' he asked.

'He left me to go to America. He said he needed sometime, but he has found someone else in U.S.' he heard her desperation. Bonnie might have betrayed Kol with him once, but she did not want to see Kol slipping through her clutches.

'You want me to drag him back to Holstein, away from the woman he has found solace with?'

'You don't understand, do you Elijah? I don't want him back because his money fuels my lifestyle.' She paused, 'I want him back because I love him. It may be difficult for you to believe, but I do love him. And that's why I am begging you. Please, don't let him stay with that woman. If it had been someone who genuinely liked him, I would have let him go, but that woman only wants him so that she could wash the stain of being a paid whore in all the aristocratic circles of Europe.'

'Don't talk in riddles, Bonnie.'

'He is with Elena Gilbert in Mystic Falls, Virginia. She will use him, and betray him in far worse fashion than I ever did. Please! Elijah.' He could hear her and yet it seemed as if he was far away from his own body. Kol was with Elena, his Elena.

'I will leave for Mystic Falls tomorrow.' And he hanged up without listening her reply. He did not want Bonnie Bennett's gratitude. He had his own selfish reasons for going to Mystic Falls. He didn't want Elena anywhere near Kol. He had an inkling why she was with his brother. If she wanted to exact vengeance for whatever he had done to her, it was fine by him. But he was the one who had wronged her, so he had to be the one who paid, not his brother Kol.

Life had brought him in a full circle where he found himself standing at the same place from where he had started.

* * *

Damon Salvatore paced the confines of his office, waiting for his head of security, Enzo. Damon had entrusted Enzo to find Elena. Night had descended over the skies of Luxembourg, and he could see his twinkling city from his window. He could feel the restlessness in his bones. Enzo had called him twenty minutes ago to inform him that he had found whereabouts of Elena Gilbert, and was on his way to the palace.

Seven years; his wait of seven years was going to be rewarded today. The knock on the door signaled Enzo's arrival.

'Mystic Falls, Virginia.' This was all that Damon Salvatore needed to hear.

He was going to see his Elena very soon…..

* * *

**Elijah is on a misguided mission to save his brother while Damon thinks that a sincere apology will be enough to have Elena in his life again. What do you think? Review below and let me know what you thought about this chapter. Till then stay tuned for the next chapter of 'The Ugly Truth'.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks a lot for the reviews, people. You guys are the best. This chapter is the result of friendly nudging by the awesome Siberia21 and tammykay715. Enjoy, and yeah I don't own Vampire Diaries…**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

I believe, I believe you could love me  
But you're lost on the road to misery  
and what I gave to you  
I could never get back!  
Don't complicate it,  
Don't drive yourself insane  
Yeah,  
Say what you will but I know that you want to stay!

-I know you by Skylar Grey

* * *

Mystic Falls was a charming small town where everybody knew everybody.

The news of the arrival of two aristocrats was hardly something that could've been stifled.

Elijah Mikaelson and Damon Salvatore had both arrived within hours of each other and taken residences on the opposite ends of the town.

Damon was staying in a renovated villa while Elijah lounged in the manor on the outskirts of the town.

One would wonder if Elena and Kol had heard the not so subtle mutterings of European Royalty dropping unexpectedly in Mystic Falls.

Elena and Kol indeed had not known.

They had just returned from an impromptu skydiving trip they had planned a couple of days ago. Well, truth to be told, it had been Kol's idea to drag Elena for a taste of what he called the adrenaline rush from insane experiences.

'You loved it. Accept it, Elena, and stop being a bore,' he said as he fed her small bites of chicken from his plate.

'Accept it? You fucking pushed me out of a plane, Kol.' She was still fuming over what she considered the violation of the best friend code.

'Thou shalt not push your best friend from a plane,' she whined.

'Pushed you? Well, yes I did push you only because you weren't jumping, Elena. And you loved it,' he countered, his lips stretched in a fond smile. He could still hear her excited laugh once she had gotten over her aversion of heights and a small fact that he had pushed her.

'That's not the point.' She knew she was going to lose this argument, but it was still fun trying to get a rise out of Kol. He would stretch the point till she conceded and accepted that she had indeed enjoyed their skydiving experience.

In such a small time he had become an integral part of her life. He was someone who had seen Elena Gilbert in her most pathetic moments and yet he had not judged her. Not ever. Sometimes she even forgot that he was royal. She knew she wasn't supposed to know, but did he really think he could fool her with a fake surname? She made her living by ridiculing the so called bourgeoisie of society. To think that she would have been duped by a fake surname was preposterous. The ideas Kol got. Really, sometimes he was so childish. Maybe that was the best thing about him. He saw the world in his own way. For him, people weren't things to be compartmentalized.

He was a Mikaelson and yet he wasn't the Mikaelson.

He was far different from the Mikaelson she had known.

'Earth to Elena. Where did you wander off, love?' His eyes betrayed his concern as clearly as his jovial tone hid it.

A study in contrast. That was the only explanation of who Kol Mikaelson was. He had perfected the carefree happy guy persona to such degree that most people thought he was someone who had no problems in his life. Most of them overlooked the pain hidden behind his smiles, the desperation concealed beneath his outlandish acts.

He was her friend, maybe the only one in a very long time. He had understood her. So, now she was trying to understand him.

She knew this visit of his to Mystic Falls wasn't a result of wanting to see charming small towns of U.S. He had glossed over the entire thing when he had introduced himself. He had given a lame ass excuse about wanting a change of scenery.

She knew he had left Holstein abruptly.

She also knew he loved his wife, Bonnie. After all, hadn't she seen him watching a still of Bonnie on his phone when he thought no one was looking? So, why was Prince Kol here, away from the woman he loved? What was he doing here?

Somehow, she didn't know why but she suspected his visit to Mystic Falls had something to do with his brother, Elijah.

'Elena?' His fingers were twined with hers and their pressure brought her back to the man who had done a very good job of drawing her out of her anti-social shell.

'It's nothing, Kol.' She smiled and squeezed his fingers in return.

'So, what do you think about New Orleans for next weekend?' The twinkle in his eyes had returned, and she was content for the moment with his infectious smile.

* * *

Mystic Falls was a quaint little town, beautiful at first glance while boring at another. Damon Salvatore was bored, and he had not even been here for more than forty-eight hours. There was nothing to do in small towns.

He should go on a walk. Or else he was sure he would go crazy sitting in here. He knew where Elena worked now, knew where she lived courtesy to Enzo. But he had not gathered enough courage to go and see her.

He was sure she would never listen to him. But he had to try, right?

So with a determined outlook at what seemed to be an impossible situation, Damon Salvatore, Grand Duke of Luxembourg walked out of his villa without his posse of bodyguards.

He knew Enzo was just a few feet behind him, but he could still pretend that he was just a man going to see the woman he loved, couldn't he?

* * *

Elijah Mikaelson was walking the streets of the town Elena had made her home. He could see why she liked it here. There was an otherworldly quality to this place, something that could never be explained but experienced.

He liked the small shops and charming cafes that dotted the sides of the road.

This place was postcard perfect and he felt out of place. From the time he had reached here, Bonnie had called at least ten times urging him to go and confront that Gilbert whore. He had snapped finally and threatened to block her if she didn't stop calling.

He had wanted to make a scathing remark on Bonnie's character when she had defamed Elena, but then he had stopped.

Hadn't he been the one to make her a whore?

Bonnie didn't know how desperately he wanted to find Kol and drag him far away from this place where Elena Gilbert existed with her beautiful smiles and innocent seduction. And it wasn't something that he wanted to do for Kol's benefit. Oh no. He wanted his brother to stay away from his Elena even when he knew he had no right to call her his. In fact, if he had his way he would keep every man far away from the temptation named Elena Gilbert.

She was not wrong if she wanted to punish him for what he had done. She wasn't wrong if she had actively sought his brother to exact her vengeance. If she had been a different woman and he a different man, he might have even helped her in her endeavor.

He had to attend the Gilbert's annual gala in two days and he wanted to wrap this before that. He was sure Kol wouldn't deny his request to return to Holstein.

_But why would Kol agree to what Elijah proposed?_

Kol wasn't the same man he had been before coming to this place. Before coming to Mystic Falls, Kol had not known about his brother's betrayal. He had not known the truth about the child Bonnie had miscarried.

Why would Kol listen to him now?

His mind blanked as he turned to his left to stare at the couple sitting outside a small restaurant. It had been the woman's laugh that had halted his stride.

It looked like Bonnie had been right, because sitting closely together in front of him were none other than Elena and Kol, laughing together as if they had discovered the key to being happy.

'What the hell do you think you are doing, Mikaelson?'

It looked like he wasn't alone in his discovery of Kol and Elena.

Damon Salvatore was standing few feet away from the couple, anger evident in every harsh breath he drew.

* * *

Fuck.

Damon Salvatore was here and he had practically shouted his surname in front of Elena. She wasn't an idiot who wouldn't connect the dots that his somewhat vague answers and fake surname had left behind.

Kol didn't want to look at her. He knew what he would see in her eyes. She would think he was just like his brother, playing with her by his own rules.

He was scared to look in her direction.

He didn't want that easy affection her eyes held for him to change into hate. She was his friend and he wanted her to remain his friend.

He wanted countless more skydiving experiences and trips to wherever they wanted to spend their weekends. He wanted to drag her from her job to do fun things. He wanted to sit on her couch and steal her popcorn while she tried to open her eyes after every time a ghost wheezed past the main lead on the screen.

He had done all of those things and yet he wanted to do more.

He had come here in search of redemption for his brother but in the process, he had found his salvation.

He wanted to be Kol Shaw, not Prince Kol Mikaelson and yet he couldn't sit like a scared twelve-year-old while Salvatore tried his hand at being the big bad.

He was a Mikaelson after all.

'Having lunch, your highness. What does it look like to you?' He was sure he had strained his neck in his haste to turn towards Elena. She had answered Damon nonchalantly while shifting her food on her plate.

He must have looked like an idiot.

'Did your bastard brother send you here, Mikaelson, or are you here to nurse your own broken heart?' Damon taunted.

'Fuck off, Salvatore.' Finally, Kol Mikaelson's temper had made an appearance and it wasn't because Damon had pointed that he had a broken heart. No. He was offended at being called Elijah's lapdog.

'Is that so? You see I have been hearing these weird rumors that your brother was screwing your wife behind your back.'

The sharp slap that left the imprint of his abuser's hand on Damon Salvatore's cheek was from Elena Gilbert. She had put the Grand Duke in his place before Kol had even processed the ugly truth Damon had so casually dropped.

'Let us go, Kol. Some people just cannot mind their own business,' she spat as she firmly held his hand in hers and dragged him away from a stunned Damon Salvatore.

He didn't know what was happening. Did she not suspect that he was someone she didn't want to associate with? Even if she hadn't realized the truth that had exploded like a bomb when Damon had confronted him, he needed to spell it out for her.

He needed to tell her that he was not the ordinary Kol Shaw she had befriended.

'Elena, I'm not who you think I am.' He could barely get the words out of his mouth. It seemed as if they were stuck in the throat.

'I know.' Her answer was accompanied with a smile.

What was happening? Kol was confused. Why was she smiling? She won't be smiling when he told her he was Kol Mikaelson, Prince of Holstein, the younger brother of Prince Elijah Mikaelson, the man who had destroyed her life for his sick enjoyment.

'Elena-' he tried again.

'I know who you are, Prince Mikaelson. I've known since the fist moment you opened your mouth and told me a ridiculous lie.' She punched his arm as she laughed.

'Did you really think you could fool me with a fake surname?' She rolled her eyes. 'Dude, you didn't even change your name. This is I think the lamest idea that came in your mind. What were you thinking?'

He was embarrassed. And happy. God, he was so happy. He had never thought of this possibility. He hadn't dared.

She knew everything and she wasn't angry. She was making fun of him.

'I thought you wouldn't wanna be friends with me if you knew who I was,' he muttered, his fingers moving through his hair in agitation.

'You really are juvenile. Idiot,' she said fondly as she hugged him.

All was once again right in his world.

* * *

**So, what do you guys think? Review below and let me know. Stay tuned for the next installment of 'The Ugly Truth'. Love ya guys. Bye.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you for the reviews, guys. I don't own Vampire Diaries. I listened to Halsey's Colors countless times while I was writing this chapter. Enjoy…**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

Your little brother never tells you but he loves you so  
you said your mother only smiled on her TV show  
you're only happy when your sorry head is filled with dope…

Everything is blue  
His pills, his hands, his jeans  
and now I'm covered in the colors  
Pulled apart at the seams  
and it's blue…

And now he's so devoid of color  
He don't know what it means…

-'Colors' by Halsey

* * *

Doorbells had the most irritating habit of ringing when there was no one to open them promptly. Kol Mikaelson cursed for the second time as the doorbell rang. He was in no position to rush down the stairs and open the door himself, and only god knew where Elena was.

He was lugging her bag down the stairs, her heavy bag mind you. What had she packed for a weekend in New Orleans?

'Coming,' he hollered as the doorbell rang again.

When he opened Elena's door, he found the least expected person standing there.

'What are you doing here?' he snarled.

'Hello, Kol,' Elijah said as he moved forward to maybe hug his brother, only to find Kol recoiling from him.

'I'll repeat again, Elijah. What are you doing outside Elena's house?'

'I could ask you the same thing.' Elijah cocked his head to one side, a small twisted smile playing on his lips.

'No, you can't, brother.' Kol started to close the door only to find Elijah's hand blocking him from doing so.

'What are you doing here, Kol?'

'You want to do this here, Elijah?' There was a dangerous glint in Kol's eyes.

He stepped out of the house, closing the door behind him.

'You couldn't invite me in?'

'Elena won't want you in her home.' His answer was simple.

'And Elena is much more important to you than your own brother?' The bitter accusation left Elijah's lips before he could control himself. _Why did everyone fall in love with his Elena?_

'You have the gall to say that, Elijah?' Kol's fists curled in an attempt to cool the anger that was a pounding beat of his heart. 'After all, were you not the man who was sleeping with his brother's wife?'

If Elijah were a lesser man, the color would've drained from his face and he would've found himself tongue-tied in front of the said husband of the wife he'd slept with, but Elijah wasn't the lesser man, and hence his face showed no expression when Kol counted his sins.

'That has nothing to do with Elena,' he replied brusquely.

'Nothing, you say? It didn't matter to you when you were sleeping with Bonnie, did it, Elijah? Did you even for once, think that I might love her?' The pain shining in Kol's eyes was something Elijah had just started to experience recently.

'I wasn't the only one in a relationship of two, Kol.' Maybe, he shouldn't have said that, but why was he responsible for the whole mistake when Bonnie had been an equal partner as well?

Kol's eyes shuttered. Elijah saw as his brother change into the cold unfeeling bastard that he was in front of his very own eyes.

Kol's eyes weren't meant to be cold; the snarl didn't suit his lips. _What had he done to his little brother?_

'I know that, Elijah. But what can I do? I love her. So, how do I blame her for something that I myself did a thousand times before she came in my life? I can't stop loving her, and yet her betrayal hurts. I want to go back, and yet I know nothing will ever be the same.' Kol took a step back as if he were uncertain about his rage. 'And then I see you, Elijah, and my anger knows no bound. I wonder why you didn't stop your advances when you perfectly knew how madly in love with her I was. Do you get a kick that you can seduce any woman you desire?'

Elijah had no answer. He himself didn't know what he had made of his life. Apparently Kol wasn't done.

'It is just like Sage and Finn debacle all over again, isn't it, Elijah? The only difference is that I'm not Finn, and I sure as hell am not going to kill myself for the grandiose expression of love.' His lips curled, and Elijah didn't know what was sadder; him or his brother's cruel smile. 'If you want Bonnie, you're welcome to have her. Just stay away from Elena.'

'What is Elena to you, Kol? Do you even know her? And as for wanting Bonnie, I think that ship has already sailed.'

'It doesn't matter whether or not I know, Elena. And as for Bonnie, did she send you here to appeal to my much better rationality?' Kol taunted.

'Bonnie is your wife, Kol. She has a right to demand an explanation for your whereabouts.'

Kol took a step towards Elijah, preferably to grab his collar but time and place halted his feet. His face was a bare panorama of disgust when his eyes met Elijah's.

'She lost that right, Elijah.'

Kol turned around to walk inside the house, and Elijah couldn't let him do that. Kol needed to go back to Holstein. He had to go far away from Elena, and maybe that was the reason which prompted Elijah to say something he shouldn't have said.

'They call her a whore. Across the principalities, and dukedoms of Europe, in every lofty, rich, blue-blooded circle, she is known as the girl who fell for the money of Duke of Luxembourg. "Duke's whore" that is how she's known across the whole Europe.'

The end of the sentence earned him a very forceful punch across his face.

'Don't you dare call her that,' Kol shouted.

'Why do you think she hides here? Her own parents don't acknowledge her existence,' Elijah said with a smile that looked wrong along with his bleeding nose.

'Oh! So, you know all about her, don't you, Elijah? After all weren't you the one who degraded her? And as for her parents, I pity them. If they can lavish all their money and love on Amara Gilbert, Elena doesn't need them in her life. She's got me, Elijah.'

_Amara Gilbert? The woman who met him in high-end parties and lessened his boredom?_

'Don't be a fool, Kol. I saw the altercation you got in with Damon. He won't be the only royal to look down on you because of your choice of a companion. Do you think people won't talk when you divorce Bonnie for someone like her?' Elijah was at his wits end. His baby brother had grown up to be a man far more honorable than he had been.

'Who said something about a divorce?' Kol laughed. 'Let people talk, Elijah. I never cared nor will I ever do. And as for Bonnie, you are here as her representative, aren't you? Then you can tell her that she would just have to get used to the photos that appear in newspapers, rumors that fly around and royal gossip that buzzes like a bee after her.'

And with the last statement, Kol turned around and walked away from the man he had idolized once…

* * *

Elijah Mikaelson downed another glass of whiskey and even then he could feel the taste of his sin beneath the burn of the liquor. Why had he said all those things about Elena? It left a bad taste in his mouth.

His phone rang again and he didn't need to check the screen to tell it was Bonnie again. He had ignored her calls all evening.

'What is it, Bonnie?' he slurred.

'Are you drunk, Elijah?'

'Me? No-' he took another swig from his glass, '-I'm just drowning my failure in alcohol, Bonnie.'

'What did he say?' Was it optimism in her voice that he could sense? Who did she think he was? Did she really think he was capable of making everything right with few words?

'He isn't coming back, Bonnie,' he said, his voice a forlorn echo of all the feelings swirling inside him.

'What do you mean by that? How can you let him stay with her?' she shrieked.

Her shout reminded Elijah, that however broken and weak he was in this moment, he was still Prince Elijah Mikaelson, and it would be a cold day in hell when he let the likes of Bonnie Bennett shout at him.

'You let him get away, Bonnie. It was you who told him everything. Don't lay the blame on my door now.'

He threw his phone across the room, where it shattered against the wall.

What was he going to do?

* * *

The Annual Gilbert Gala was another charity event that John and Isobel Gilbert hosted every year. This year their cause was raising awareness and donation for fighting Leukemia.

It was another one of those black tie events that Elijah abhorred attending, but John and Isobel Gilbert were not people he could ignore entirely. He could see Damon sitting gloomily at the bar. A woman sat beside him, clad in a pale crème gown, she was a very familiar figure.

What was Elena doing with Damon?

He didn't know he had intentionally walked to where the couple was sitting till he was standing directly beside Damon.

'Elena?'

The woman turned, and in a moment, he knew this wasn't Elena, even though Elena's face stared at him. The eyes were wrong. Elena's eyes were innocence personified, whereas these eyes were cold and calculative.

'It seems you've met my twin, your highness.' The woman smirked, her face contorting in something infinity ugly.

'Pardon me,' he said as he turned around to walk away. Damon had still not said a single word.

'There is no need for that, your highness.' She turned towards Damon, her hands winding intimately round his neck. Her eyes were flinty gateways to her soul, and from what Elijah could see, her soul was as ugly as her deception was beautiful. She looked at Damon from beneath her lashes, her voice coming in a breathy whisper. 'Won't you introduce me to your friend, darling?'

The blank look that adorned Damon's face didn't slip even for a moment as he stood up, his hands on the waist of the woman whose face was a mockery of Elena's beauty.

'His royal highness, Prince Elijah Mikaelson-' Damon gestured towards him, '- this is my girlfriend, Amara Gilbert.'

The world came to a standstill.

Amara?

* * *

**Review below, and let me know what you thought about this chapter. I'll be back with the next installment of 'The Ugly Truth'. Till then, stay safe and read my stories. Don't forget to leave reviews.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks a lot for the reviews, guys. Especially Keeptheflameburning. You are awesome, mate. You read my story in one sitting, and I'm so happy that I have someone like you who enjoys these tales I pen. As usual, this chapter is the result of those extra nudges that my pal Siberia21 sends my way.**

**So, enjoy the chapter and yeah, I don't own Vampire Diaries…**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

There's such a sad love  
deep in your eyes.  
A kind of pale jewel,  
open and closed  
within your eyes.  
I'll place the sky  
within your eyes.

There's such a fooled heart  
beatin' so fast  
In search of new dreams.  
A love that will last  
within your heart.  
I'll place the moon  
within your heart.

-As the world falls down by David Bowie

* * *

Amara.

This woman who stood with Damon Salvatore couldn't be the Amara who had laughed with him, danced with him, enchanted him and kept him company. This woman was calculation epitomized and if Elijah peered closely enough, he could see the bloody dollar signs gleaming in her eyes.

His Amara had laughed easily, and with abandon. Even beneath the Venetian masks she had worn, her eyes had been warm pools of life he had wanted to drown himself in. Her conversations had been intelligent and her observations keen, which didn't include envying others for their couture or jewelry as this Amara was doing.

How could he be so wrong?

This Amara wasn't the one who had spent parties after parties mocking the so-called rich and titled with him.

This was the woman for whom Damon had left Elena?

Elijah could vaguely remember her now. Sitting in Damon's study they had delighted in tormenting her twin sister. Elijah suddenly felt sick. Exactly how much of his alcohol and drug induced episodes had he forgotten?

The knowing gleam in Amara Gilbert's eye made him want to escape.

'It looks like you remember me now, your highness. I nearly thought that you'd forgotten all the fun-filled days and our strong friendship,' she said, leaving Damon's side to come to his. Her close proximity made him feel dirty. He wanted to run far away from here, far away from everything.

He didn't want to turn his head even a bit and look into Amara Gilbert's face. It was a face that haunted his sleep and yet the woman sitting beside him wasn't the one whom he saw in his dreams.

He hated himself for everything he was –a liar and a poser; a fucking loser who had found enjoyment in making Elena Gilbert cry.

The sudden commotion at the entrance was a blessed relief from Amara's constant remembrance of the memories he never wanted to remember.

He knew the moment Elena entered the party. Call it instinct, call it karma, but he knew the moment she stepped inside the foyer of her parent's mansion.

He could have called her a vision or perfection incarnate, but in his opinion, there was no word that could describe her aptly. She was Elena, and if someone asked him, he would say she was his goddess.

She was on Kol's arm, immaculately groomed and dressed. Her face, as usual, was covered in one of her masks. But this time, he knew who she was.

She had been his Amara. She had been the woman who had danced with him, flirted with him and teased him. She was the woman he'd made love to.

Amara and Elena, they both were identical and yet he could tell them apart in a heartbeat. Elena might have used Amara's name in all those parties, but now she couldn't fool Elijah.

'Can you believe her impertinence?' Amara hissed beside him. 'Does she feel no shame? Our parents expressly forbade her not to show her face on our doorstep ever again, and here she is with Prince Kol as if she has no care in the world.'

Elijah tuned her out.

His eyes were fixed on Elena who exuded confidence and yet he could tell she was scared out of her mind.

What had his brother been thinking, bringing her here in midst of all these sick people who couldn't wait to take a slice out of her?

* * *

She was going to push Kol out of her goddamn window. The sneaky bastard had sprung this on the very last second, and then he'd proceeded to give her his puppy dog eyes.

The crowd looked at her as if she were an exotic animal on the run from the zoo. This was the reason why she'd retreated from this world. These whisperings and snide smiles that people threw in her direction were the only things that had forced her to lose herself among the ordinary people. Otherwise, she too would have written a tell all.

'Don't worry, darling. I just have to prove a point before we're outta here,' he whispered.

'I want to throttle you,' she snarled from between her teeth, her mouth stretched in what some would call a pained grimace.

'You'll be thanking me for all your days to come in a couple of minutes,' he reassured, guiding her expertly where her parents were mingling with the mega rich and the prominent.

Elena wanted to hide and never show her face. She still remembered the callous treatment at the hand of her parents. She didn't think she was strong enough to brave rejection second time around.

'Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert,' Kol said, his arm tightening around her waist.

Her father turned and then froze at the sight of her. She could see the revulsion in his eyes even when his lips curved in a smile of greeting for Kol.

'Your daughter has been kind enough to show me the wonders of a small town, Mr. Gilbert,' he remarked. 'I'm so thankful that I met Elena when I did.'

His firm no-nonsense warning was delivered with a polite smile and a clear tone that he would not tolerate any insult on Elena's person.

She wanted to hug him and choke him with affection at the same time. No one had done anything like this for her.

'Yeah, Elena does have a very hospitable attitude,' her father said snidely, disguising it with a well-bred smile.

'She's the definition of perfection, Mr. Gilbert. You must be so proud of her.'

And with that last remark Kol swept her off to the dance floor where the opening strains of the waltz could be heard…

* * *

Kol and Elena swayed with the mellow music, lost in their own world. There were smiles and secret looks, whispered conversations that hinted at a deep level of intimacy.

The onlookers observed the way Elena Gilbert glowed in the company of Kol Mikaelson and they also witnessed the amusement and devotion shining evidently on the younger Prince Mikaelson's face.

'She looks as if she belongs in his arms, doesn't she, Elijah?'

Elijah Mikaelson kept his eyes firmly on the dancing pair, ignoring the waspish remarks by one Amara Gilbert.

'How does it feel, Elijah? How does it feel when you think whether or not your brother has tasted her screams of pleasure on his tongue?'

His hand curled around the stem of the wine glass. He desperately wanted to lose himself in the oblivion of the burn of whiskey but he'd to make do with the over-priced champagne instead. Every turn that Elena took to come back in Kol's arm was a stab. His heart hurt, and so did his head. He wanted nothing but Elena in his arms.

'Fell in love with my fallen twin, didn't you, Elijah?'

Elijah turned abruptly towards Amara and she backed away after witnessing the look on his face. There were fear and apprehension on the features that were so unlike Elena's in every way other than physical.

'Do you know where your Damon is, Amara?' he murmured. 'Look around at the opposite corner. You will find a man who watches every breath Elena takes with much more passion than he ever gives you, even during fucking.' Elijah tugged her closer. To the onlookers it would seem that they were the closest of acquaintances, discussing something intimate.

'Your Damon keeps you close, not because he loves you, Amara, but because you remind him of his one true love,' Elijah whispered in her ears. 'He fucks you because he can't make love to her. He kisses you in a shallow hope of tasting her again.'

Amara's eyes were filled to the brim and at any moment the tears would fall if Elijah wished so. And he definitely did.

'You will never be her, Amara. He'll always keep you around, not for yourself but for her…'

* * *

Elijah breathed the cool air as he walked towards his car.

This party had been nothing but salt on his open wounds. He knew why Kol was doing what he was doing. He'd laid the sins on Elena's door, but in reality, it had been his brother who'd pursued Elena.

This was Kol's way of retaliation.

Elijah had Kol's Bonnie. So, Kol was set on taking Elijah's Elena.

He wished he could write the whole story again.

He wished he could erase all his guilt and start anew with Elena. But that was not possible now. She would never forgive him, even if he laid his heart on her feet.

His gaze was drawn towards the shadowed alcove as the moon made its appearance and lightened the dark corner. Two people were standing in a close embrace. The woman rested her head on the man's chest as man's fingers speared her hair.

The man tugged her head back, and the moonlight fell on woman's face.

It was Elena–his Elena.

The moment Kol dipped his head and his lips touched hers–Elijah turned away.

His world was ending and he didn't want to see the carnage…

* * *

**Love, love, love**–**leave me loads of love, people.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you for the reviews.**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

Honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago  
Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword  
Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know  
I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door

Babe, there's something wretched about this  
Something so precious about this

Get closer to me…

-From Eden by Hozier

* * *

The moment Kol's lips touched Elena's; she knew it had been a mistake.

They both sprang away, childishly wiping their mouths and making gagging noises.

'It was your idea,' he accused.

'As if you weren't the one, who jumped to push your mouth against mine,' she retaliated.

'Let's blame the whole thing on the over consumption of the alcohol, and forget it.' Kol shuddered as he dragged her by his side and started walking to where the valet was waiting with his car.

'You don't think anyone saw us, did you?'

'Don't worry, darling,' he said conspiratorially. 'I can play the lover boy in public.'

She smacked him soundly on his head with her Venetian mask that she held in her hand. 'I don't want the bloody vultures to tear you apart because of me, Kol.'

'I'm not that easy to hurt, Elena,' he replied. 'And when it comes to you, I won't mind being painted in not so favorable light. You can keep me company in the days of my notoriety.'

They both smiled at each other, content as they were in this moment that whispered about companionship and affection.

He opened the door for her and when she was settled in her seat, closed the door and rounded off the car to get in driver's seat. They had plans to drop off from the face of the earth for next couple of days.

After all, he'd promised her that he'd show her the northern lights…

* * *

Elijah knew that this was madness, but yet here he was-following Kol and Elena's car.

The kiss had shaken him to his very core.

He knew he couldn't do any fucking thing if Elena went and fell in love with Kol. For all his admissions inside his mind that Elena was his, in reality, he had no claim on Elena. Not even in barest sense.

And still, his heart had hurt so painfully when he'd seen Kol's lips on hers.

His jealousy hadn't been a beast clawing the chains of his control, but a violent storm of emotions that threatened to engulf him in its never ending embrace.

Why was he following them?

The idea of confronting Kol in front of Elena had gone out of the window the moment it had come. What would he say to Elena? That the man who was putting smiles on her face was only doing so to hurt him? That the Kol she was so enamored with was nothing but a mass of vengeance covered with muscles and skin?

He sounded obnoxious even in his own head.

The best thing for him would be to forget Elena and get on with his life. But what was he to live for? He couldn't return to his empty existence that he'd led before falling viciously in love with Elena. He knew he would love no other woman. He knew he couldn't use them to forget her. He knew he had no reprieve from the hell he so unwittingly had created.

So lost he was in his thoughts that he didn't see the oncoming disaster until a shrill crunch of metal and choked cries rang in the night air.

* * *

'Elena?'

'Elena, baby? Open your eyes, darling?' Kol knew he was shouting but he didn't know what to do. The red of the blood on her dear face was not something that Kol had ever envisioned.

'This isn't fair, Elena. You open your eyes right now,' he ordered and yet the orbs of honey remained hidden beneath her lids.

It was his fault.

He'd been so invested in enjoying the gentle ribbing and feeling twenty foot tall for showing those stuck up blood-blooded bastards that she was far better than every single one of them, that he hadn't seen the oncoming SUV.

It had been sheer luck that his circuit driving reflexes had kicked in and he had managed to put his Audi on the side. The fucking bastard in the SUV had run like his ass was on fire. Kol would have given chase but then his gaze had landed on Elena and his heart had literally withered in his chest.

'Elena?'

Was he crying? He didn't care. What if something happened to her? It would be his fault.

Someone came running to the side of the road where he was sitting on the ground, propped against the side of his car with her in his arms, his tears falling on her cheeks.

'Elena?'

It was Elijah.

Kol looked up to his big brother and in that moment he was hit by Déjà vu so strong that he thought he was choking.

The man who wore concern and worry was his brother-the brother who'd taken Mikael's wrath on his flesh to spare his younger siblings. The man who'd taught him how to read and write. The man who'd nursed him back to health when Mikael and Esther had been enjoying one of the many parties given by distant royal cousins.

This was his brother Elijah-the man who was still paying for the sins of a brother who'd hung himself from the ceiling for his love, for a wife who'd never loved her husband but married him to save herself from her monstrous parents, for a son who'd died for no reason at all.

'Kol, we have to take her to the hospital,' Elijah said urgently.

Kol knew he should move but he was frozen-maybe in shock, maybe in guilt.

Elijah took Elena from his arms and walked back to his car to lay her gently in the back seat. He returned and pulled Kol to his feet and supported him until he was sitting in the back seat with Elena's head in his lap.

His big brother had come to save him again.

Where had been Kol when Elijah had gone round the bend after Sage's death? Where had been Klaus?

They all were selfish creatures too enamored with comfort and yet every time one of them fell, Elijah was always standing with the safety net.

Weren't they supposed to take care of their big brother for a change?

Instead of being the crutch Elijah could rely on, Kol had been spending his days raising hell and Klaus had been too bitter to come out of the shadow that Mikael had left in his wake. They hadn't even thought that their big brother might become a drug addict and alcoholic to escape the pain.

They'd been too busy in their own lives to fucking care.

He looked down at Elena's face, her dear sweet face, and wondered why he hadn't ever asked her about her favorite color.

He looked ahead and to his surprise, Elijah was already pulling in the parking lot of the hospital. He was on his phone, giving princely commands, no doubt.

Even a minute hadn't passed when medical professionals opened the back door and carefully took out Elena before laying her down on the stretcher.

'Kol?'

He turned towards his brother and suddenly the reality of the event caught up to him. The fear, the heartrending terror-he found himself sobbing on Elijah's shoulder in the hospital parking lot.

There went his image of being the tough guy!

'I forgive you,' he whispered. They were sitting on the ground, in the shadow of the car, far away from prying eyes.

'You don't have to, Kol. What I did was wrong on so many levels. Not to mention that I broke your trust.' There was bitterness in those eyes, shame on that proud aristocratic face.

'But you weren't alone,' Kol admitted. It was the first time he was accepting the fact that Bonnie had been equally guilty. Maybe it had to do with the close nick with death, but Kol realized that life was too short to waste it on regrets, guilt and past.

'I made a mess of everything, didn't I?' Elijah asked.

'No more than I did. That's why Nik is the happiest among us all. He keeps his hybrid senses sharp and Caroline close.' They smiled together, remembering a very young Nik who'd proclaimed in his proud childish voice that he was a powerful hybrid and he would eat them alive if they didn't let him win hide and seek.

'You love Elena, don't you?'

Elijah turned his head as if her name alone hurt him, but Kol had seen the yearning on his brother's face.

'You should start fresh with her, you know,' he said conversationally. 'I might even put a good word about you. I'm her best bud.'

Elijah choked. 'I saw you kissing her,' he said after some time.

Kol sniggered at the look on his brother's face. 'We were experimenting.'

'Experimenting? I thought you were done with that after your puberty.'

'Duh, Elijah! We were making sure that we didn't like each other like that.' Kol wriggled his eyebrows.

'I'd forgotten how irritating you are, Kol,' Elijah remarked fondly. 'It's nice to remember it.'

'And I remembered exactly how easily flustered you are, big brother.'

* * *

When the Mikaelson brothers returned to the hospital waiting room, a group of nurses had already been searching for them.

A harried looking doctor came running to Elijah the moment he saw them.

'Your highness? The patient-'

'What happened to Elena?' they asked at the same time.

'She's fine, your highnesses. It's just that…it's complicated. It would be better if I show you instead.'

They followed him to the private room where they were keeping Elena.

Kol was scared out of his mind. And Elijah was no better.

She turned the moment door opened. Apart from the bandage on her head, there was no physical sign that she'd been in an accident.

But her eyes were devoid of recognition as they passed over Elijah and then rested on Kol.

'Who are you?' she asked, her forehead scrunching with curiosity.

What?

Had she forgotten everything?

'Elena-'

Kol cut his brother in between before sauntering to her bed. 'Hello Elena. Don't tell me you forgot your fiancé?' His smile was mischievous when he looked at his brother.

Maybe this was fate's way of telling him that Elena and Elijah were meant for each other.

'Fiancé?' she asked, obviously confused.

'Yes, darling. See that man standing at the door?' Kol pointed towards the door where Elijah stood still as a statue. 'He's Elijah, and he's been dying to know how you are. Loves you unconditionally, after all, doesn't he?'

Elijah looked pale.

'Elijah?' Elena's voice was tentative as if she was tasting his name on her tongue.

He walked slowly to her bed-a man being offered a second chance which he didn't know what to do with.

'Is my name really Elena?'

* * *

**Don't shoot me. I swear there is a happy ending for this story. Review and let me know what you thought about this chapter.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Don't own the sexy Elijah and lovely Elena!**

**Read and Review, people, and a bunch of thanks to all of you for sparing your precious time for my fic.**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

A dream that I could never see,  
you were the touch of romance for me,  
the sweet nothings, the heady feelings,  
you broke the hedonistic cage,  
finally I was free...

* * *

'So, do you like it?' Her eyes were expectant as she watched Elijah taste another spoonful of her French onion soup. This fiancé of hers was very elusive.

He was off to his official meetings before she even woke, and he returned after she'd gone to bed. She'd tried questioning him numerous times about his behavior, but he'd always made some excuse about her health and some shit like that.

Three weeks of distant communication was all she could take when she decided she needed to stage an intervention.

So, from past two days, she was successfully sharing breakfast and dinner with him. Well, it was another matter altogether that her sleep schedule was shot to hell, and she'd somewhat camped on his door, but hey she was getting results, right?

So, here she sat across from him with a bowl of soup that she'd made from scratch herself sitting innocently between them.

'It's wonderful,' he said after spooning some more soup in his mouth.

'Duh, Elijah! I know it's good, but you could've at least feigned a bit more animation. It sounded more like an official statement than a compliment,' she complained.

He gave her a brief smile before uttering, 'it's more flavorful than any meal I've yet to taste, lovely Elena.'

Her heart stuttered, and he lowered his eyes.

He always did this. Any time they were on the verge of making progress on the relationship front, he drew back.

Kol said it was the effect of his "Prude Prince" disease which had come back with a vengeance.

Elena liked Kol. He was funny, and she could talk about Elijah non-stop with him.

Elena didn't know how she'd got along with her would-be husband before the accident, but now when she saw him, there was this feeling that started unfurling in her heart. It was a slow, soft brush of tentative attraction that was much sweeter than any feeling she'd ever felt.

Try as she might, Elijah had self-control of a saint. No matter how revealing her dress was, no matter no high her heels were—his eyes never strayed anywhere from her face.

She'd asked Kol if he was asexual, and Kol had burst out laughing.

Prince Elijah Mikaelson was one hot commodity and he succeeded in escaping her clutches every frigging time.

She didn't think any woman had tried as many tricks as she had to corner her betrothed. It was hard to believe on days like this that theirs was a love match.

But Kol said Elijah loved her, and she liked to believe that Kol was right.

'So, how was your day?' she asked after some time while he was moving his spoon moodily in the spoon.

His startled eyes met her and she was taken aback.

There was so much surprise in his dark eyes as if she'd never asked about his day before. Had she been a different person back then—before her accident? Had she not loved Elijah enough? Had she been one of those women who tagged along with royalty just for lavish lifestyle and money?

She didn't know why but the thought left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

'My day was like every other day,' he answered evasively.

'I don't remember your normal days, so, enlighten me.'

He looked at her as if he didn't know what to do. He'd looked at her just like this when she'd seen him for the first time. As if he were scared of her. But that was a preposterous thought, wasn't it?

'Please, Elijah,' she urged softly.

With a forced smile he started telling her all about the boring meetings, the frustrating talks of contract and bland coffee.

She'd never heard anything so riveting before.

His lips moved, but she was too far gone to notice the words. She just stared at him in wondrous fascination—this man who she was set to marry. What had she done to deserve him?

She remembered the nights when she'd first been discharged from hospital and he'd brought her here. He'd sat at her bedside for the first couple of days, bossing doctors around at the slightest sound of her discomfort. She remembered the soft touch on her forehead and his quiet apologies when he'd thought she hadn't been listening.

He was a very attractive man. But that was not the only thing that attracted her towards him.

He was truthful, steadfast and sincere.

He respected her.

He'd never tried to take advantage of her, even though she'd wanted him to.

She was getting tired of his no touch policy.

'Elijah,' she interrupted.

'Yes, Elena.'

'Am I undesirable?'

She'd taken him by surprise. There was no sound for first twenty seconds as he looked at her and blinked.

'Elena?'

'Do you not find me attractive anymore?' She left her chair to stand in front of him.

His eyes were wide as they rose to meet hers. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.

With his lips slightly parted, tie loosened around his collar, disheveled hair—he looked like the man of her dreams. Honest, hardworking, in awe of her and loving.

Well, she would have to work a bit on the public display of affection part.

'Were you like this before my accident? So distant and apprehensive?'

She put her hands on his shoulder and held his gaze for another moment. Making sure not to break the stare, she sat on his thighs, her legs bracketing his. The fabric of his trousers was soft beneath her skin that had been exposed when her nightgown had ridden up. Her fingers locked together at the nape of his neck and she faced Prince Mikaelson upfront, closest to him she'd ever been.

The man looked like he was going to have a coronary any moment. Her thighs tightened on the either side of his and she could finally see his dilated pupils.

She affected Prince Mikaelson, all right!

He was just a bit too good at hiding it.

'Now that you can't escape, care to tell me where my engagement ring is?' she asked pleasantly as her fingers started moving softly at his nape.

He gulped and she stored it away to review later as a mini victory.

'I-I-gave—'

'Did I blackmail you into proposing to me?'

'No.' He shook his head frantically as if the idea alone was contagious somehow.

'Good. Then why aren't there any pictures of us here?'

'Kol—'

'Do you stutter this much at all your business meetings?' Her fingers had delved into the hair at the back of his head.

The question made him smile. 'I believe this is the first time I'm stuttering, lovely Elena.'

'You should smile more often,' she said. 'It brings out your eyes.'

'My ordinary brown eyes?'

'Your deep amber colored eyes that make me lose my thought process,' she whispered.

'So, Prince Mikaelson, my engagement ring?'

'Elena—'

'I know what you're going to say—' she lowered her forehead to his, '—that I'm a different person after the accident and we should wait. But I don't wanna wait, Elijah.'

He closed his eyes as if what she said was hurting him.

'I don't know who I was before the accident but I know who I am now, and I like who I am now, Elijah. I love waking up early to catch you before you can run to your business empire so that you don't have to face me. I love waiting for you at night so that I can have dinner with you. I love dressing up in outrageous clothes to catch your eye.' She placed a kiss on his brow.

His breathing was labored as if he'd run a mile in a minute.

'I love shopping for lingerie, even when I know you won't take your eyes off my face long enough to appreciate them.' She kissed his eyes; soft pecks that made his breath hitch.

'I love being Elijah's Elena when I dream…'

The softest touch of lips at the corner of his mouth was his unraveling point.

'You'll hate me once you remember, Elena.' His anguish tugged at her soul. What had this man done that he thought she won't forgive him?

'Try me, Elijah,' she said with a smile.

'You don't understand,' he gritted. His hands that had stayed firmly by his side rose to tug her closer to his chest. She could hear the thundering beats of his heart.

'We weren't like this before, Elena. We weren't Elijah and Elena. I was Prince Mikaelson and you were Elena Gilbert. Elijah and Elena didn't exist.'

Oh, poor man. So burdened by his sins he was that he couldn't see she was ready to forgive him for all of it.

Even if she didn't remember what "all of it" was!

'We weren't betrothed,' he gasped out.

'I know,' she said in return.

'What?' His hands dropped from where they were resting on her waist.

'I have amnesia, Elijah. I'm not suffering from stupidity.' She took his hands and put them where they'd been before. 'No engagement ring, no photos—I'd be an utter loon to believe the crazy story Kol cooked up.'

'But, you've been—'

'Behaving as if you were my fiancé? Maybe I like being yours.'

'Mine?' he asked in a haze that had gripped him in its clutches and that was making common sense fly out of the room.

'Yours,' she agreed.

'You don't know how much I love you, Elena…'

He moved slowly towards her, still afraid that this was one cruel dream again that he'd wake from as soon as his lips touched hers.

But nothing happened except for Elena bridging the gap.

It was not like the kiss they'd shared in his hotel room—one that had been all fire and passion, all tongue, teeth, and lips. This was slow, sweet seduction that Elena was leading and he followed. Her lips tasted his again and again as if she wanted to commit the taste to her mind lest she forget it.

It was the tentative romance that he'd never thought he'd ever experience.

He fucking sighed against her lips!

'So, my engagement ring?' she asked against his lips.

'Do you want it right now?' His fingers worked to free her hair as hers speared leisurely in his.

'I would rather have another kiss…'

* * *

**Love it? Hate it? Do review!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Baby, you're all I need  
Come now, set me free  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire  
Breathless, I can't resist  
Melt with your scarlet kiss  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire…

—Wildfire by Demi Lovato

* * *

'Elijah?'

'Hmm.'

'Are you sleeping?'

'Hmm.'

'How can you sleep?' Elena pressed herself more snugly against him beneath the sheets. As expected, his arms tightened around her as if he could make her a part of him just by holding her.

'You want a go at me again, lovely Elena? I must confess—I hadn't taken you for a nymphomaniac.' She shrieked and managed to sneak in a couple of sharp jabs of her elbow.

'It wasn't me who couldn't even wait to be in the bedroom and had me naked in the kitchen,' Elena said as he rolled them over the bed, tangling in the sheets.

'Well, try being cooped up all day in boardrooms with daydreams of your naked body wrapped around me,' he murmured as his lips tasted her collarbone and his fingers traced the pink puckered nipples.

'Who's being the nymphomaniac now?' she huffed and was promptly silenced by his mouth moving on hers.

Days saw her flitting throughout the manor and the grounds. Evenings celebrated when she sat waiting for him on the steps of his home. Nights rejoiced in their sighs and moans.

Elijah liked the way she held him in her sleep—her arms thrown across him, her legs entwined with his. He liked the way her fingers curved over his heart. He loved when she sleepily searched for him in the mornings when he left the bed early. He couldn't name the emotion that threatened to make his eyes water when he saw her cooking for him in the kitchen.

Every moment that Elena spent with him was a dream that he'd seen so long ago, a dream that had made his heart ache for things he'd thought he'd never have. Somehow, fate had smiled on Elijah Mikaelson after a very long time and had decided that he too deserved few smiles and good memories in his life.

He loomed over her, his eyes memorizing every tiny detail of her face. From the tiny scar near her hairline to the beauty spot at the edge of her jaw—he paid homage to each feature with kisses that whispered about love and nothing else.

She wrapped her long slender limbs around his waist, her hands roaming over his chest and coming too close to his erection.

Minx!

She was teasing him.

'Elena,' he warned.

'It's only fair, Elijah,' she purred. 'All those days when I tossed and turned in my bed, my body begged for your touch, but I didn't see you being a Good Samaritan and relieving me of the constant state of arousal that I was in.'

His eyes darkened with lust. He was probably imagining her pleasuring herself.

'I used to touch myself and imagine it was you.'

He was on her mouth in a heartbeat.

There was no finesse in the bite that Prince Mikaelson left on Elena Gilbert's lip.

His teeth pulled her lower lip into his mouth and he sucked it viciously, with savage intensity. When his mouth descended to leave a small bite on her collar bone, her lip was already swollen.

She marked him with the same feverish urgency as he did. Crescent marks on his back that had broken skin, a hickey already blooming on the side of his throat—she was just as mad with animal lust as he was.

He was about to suckle on her breasts when the phone rang.

'Don't pick it up,' she barked.

He smiled at her commanding tone. She would make a fine princess.

'As you wish, your highness.'

He found himself beneath her after his moment of distraction had passed.

Cunning woman.

She was sitting astride him, her hands braced on his chest and her lips curved in a mischievous smile.

'So, women must offer themselves to you regularly, Prince Mikaelson.'

'I don't want anyone,' he said seriously. Who needed other women when one had Elena Gilbert?

'You better not, Prince Mikaelson,' she said darkly as she slithered down on his body. 'If I find you even looking at another woman, I will kill her.'

Her hand touched his erection softly, a contrast to her jealous words.

'Same goes for you, lovely Elena,' he retorted. 'No other man for you but me.'

'As you wish, Prince Mikaelson.'

She kissed the tip of his erection.

His fingers fisted in sheets. Elena was a hellion in bed. The first time they'd made love after their mutual confession, they'd not even made it to the bedroom. He'd taken her on the table itself.

'Are you enjoying the show, Prince Mikaelson?' she asked innocently as she released him from her wet hot mouth.

He could do nothing but grunt.

Elena loved to make him incoherent with need.

And he enjoyed the apparent possession that she exhibited on him. Belonging to her was a novelty that he didn't think he would ever grow tired of.

'Do you like it when I suck you off, Elijah?'

He didn't think he could verbally answer her.

'I love your cock,' she said. 'I love it when you come apart in my mouth with my name on your lips. I love it when you're so out of your mind that you take me against the front door, not caring about propriety.'

She licked him from base to tip.

'I love it when you wake me up with kisses in the morning.'

She suckled the tip like a lollipop. All he wanted was to thrust in that wet heat. The pressure was mounting and his need was unbearable.

'So, you like it when I suck you off, Elijah,' she repeated.

He was about to answer her when the quiet knock on their bedroom door made him swear rather violently.

'The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is here with his entourage, your highness,' the scared voice said from the other side of the door.

'Tell him I'm not here,' he spat as he hauled Elena on top of him. She giggled quietly at his frantic touches.

'Pardon me, your highness, but he says he won't depart from here until he sees you in person,' the servant stuttered.

'Then tell him to fucking wait,' Elijah growled. 'I'll be down when I'm done fucking my princess.'

Elena was sure the poor man had run away in fear and mortification.

'Your princess?'

'That's what you'll officially be, but as far as I'm concerned—you've always been that. From the first damn day my eyes met yours.'

'So, you think you can control yourself enough to meet the Grand Duke?'

'Control? I'm not budging from this bed till I pay you back for every word you tortured me with…'

* * *

Damon had been waiting from past two hours.

When Elijah's private secretary had come back to deliver his master's message in stuttering words and with a blushing face—Damon had wanted to wring the man's neck.

He had never been disrespected in this fashion before.

He was the ruler of a fucking country and yet Elijah had reduced him to wait for him like a bloody commoner. It seemed as if Elijah needed to be reminded that his title was just customary.

If not for Elena's whereabouts, he would've never bothered with Mikaelson brothers again. But Elena had vanished after she'd attended her parents' party with Kol, and his security team had been unable to trace her since then.

Kol was cutting a swath through racing circuits of Europe but Elena was nowhere to be found.

So, where had she gone?

The gentle laughter broke his thought process and he turned to see who had dared to disturb him without permission.

What the fuck was Elena doing in a robe in Elijah's manor?

Most importantly, why was she smiling at Elijah as if the sun rose and set with him?


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

* * *

_Love,_

_Give me the leftovers,_

_Something, anything that can thaw_

_This ice that is freezing me from inside…_

* * *

'Elena!'

The sudden pronouncement of her name in a tone that suggested shock made her turn and look at the man who was standing near the window.

He was a handsome man.

And he looked awfully familiar.

'Do I know you?' she couldn't stop herself from asking.

He smirked. A cruel, satisfied look took over from its predecessor shock and she didn't know why but the whole thing made her hackles rise.

'Oh, Elena! You most certainly do know me,' he drawled. She felt Elijah stiffen behind her. There was something about his man that made her Elijah wary, and she didn't like it.

'What the fuck are you doing here, Damon?' Elijah growled.

'That's your majesty to you, Elijah, and I'm here to see my Elena, of course.'

'Your Elena?' she repeated in bewilderment. What was this man talking about?

'Elijah hasn't informed you about our history?' The man pretended to think as he started walking towards her. She involuntary took a step back—close to Elijah.

Elijah's hands snaked across her stomach and he pulled her against him. His breath ghosted at the arch of her throat as he placed a fleeting kiss on the spot before he raised his head and met Damon's eyes with a glare of his own.

'Get your hands off her, Elijah,' Damon hissed.

'I believe I'll let my Elena decide,' Elijah replied amusingly.

Her hands covered his splayed fingers on her abdomen.

'I see.' Damon paused as he observed their closeness. 'Has Elijah told you that you and I were in love once, Elena?'

Love? Elijah's hold tightened as if he were scared she would slip through his fingers if he didn't hold her tightly enough. Was this man's claim true? Had she loved anyone before Elijah?

'Has Elijah told you that he played a significant part in breaking us up? Has Prince Mikaelson ever mentioned the sick games he delighted in playing?'

Elijah's hold loosened. She didn't understand. Why was Elijah not holding her as close as he'd been? Surely what this man was saying couldn't be true?

How could she love anyone else but Elijah?

Elijah who'd sat at her bedside almost every night when she'd been in the hospital.

Elijah who'd not touched her, not even accidently when she'd come to live with him.

Elijah who'd always treated her with respect.

'Has Elijah told you Elena that he fucks women and leaves them as his mood strikes?'

Elijah took a step back, a step away from her. She missed his warmth, his strength.

Damon advanced.

'Did you know Elena that every major city in the world houses Prince Mikaelson's mistress?' She could feel Elijah retreating from her. It seemed as if he'd given her up before fighting.

Damon had reached close enough to touch her and touch he did. His fingers tucked the locks that had escaped her band in her haste to contain them. His touch felt invading.

'Did you know that Prince Mikaelson seduced his kid brother's wife? Or that she was pregnant and he refused to take responsibility? He even suggested that if she wanted to keep the baby, she should pass it off as her husband's. Has he told you that, Elena? Has he told you that she tried to commit suicide and she lost the baby?'

She turned away from Damon to look at Elijah. His head was bowed, his proud face naked in its vulnerability.

Prince Elijah Mikaelson had been reduced to nothing by this man whose sins were far greater, whose vices were innumerable.

'Did Elijah tell you, Elena, that you'd been pregnant once with my child?' Damon whispered in her ear. Elijah raised his stricken eyes to meet her eyes and in them, she could read his guilt.

'Did he tell you that he made sure I would never accept our child?' Damon remarked bitterly.

'Damian wasn't yours, Damon. He was mine,' she snarled.

Damon's eyes widened comically and Elijah looked ready to keel over.

'Yo-you remember?' Damon stuttered.

'Remember what? How you called me whore of Babylon? How you refused to accept that the child could be yours?'

'Elena-'

'No,' she thundered. 'Now, you listen to me, your majesty. You weren't a child Elijah could force to stop loving me, had you loved me. Elijah hadn't been the one fucking Amara that day, Damon. Elijah had not been the one who mocked my inexperience.'

'But I dragged you in between the depraved royals of Europe, Elena,' Elijah said softly, sadly. 'I was the one who kissed you and made a callous remark that became synonymous with your name.'

'But you were the one who fed me in the hospital. You were the one who made sure that I took my meds on time,' she replied gently. She turned towards Damon, her eyes spitting fire.

'You leave Damian out of everything, Damon. You gave him up, and I had to give him up because I wasn't capable enough to raise him. So, don't play the victim here.'

'Elena I-'

'Is Amara not enough anymore? Or is the fact that you had both of us a turn on for you?'

'Elena-'

'Get out, Damon. Get out before I've you thrown out of my home.'

Damon Salvatore, The Grand Duke of Luxembourg stood staring at the woman who'd loved him as a girl. She was no longer the same girl and he was no longer the same man.

Somewhere along the way, their roads had taken different turns even though they'd started the journey together and from the same point.

She was wrong.

He did love her.

Now, he was just realizing the depth of that love.

His love had been selfish in the start. It had been a boyish kind of love–immature and self-centered. He'd not realized her importance while she'd been in his life. He'd taken her for granted. But once he'd lost her, it had taken many drunken nights and cold beds to realize that Elena had been one of the most amazing things that had ever happened to him.

Could he let her go, now?

He'd come here with every intention to entice her away from Elijah when he'd heard about her so-called amnesia. He'd made up his mind to fight till the very end for her.

But he didn't think that was possible anymore.

Maybe he had never been cured of his boyish selfishness. Maybe it had been carried over in his love that he held for Elena as a man.

Letting go hurt because he was losing her twice over.

He was losing everything.

'We could be good together again, Elena,' he pleaded. He would go on his knees and kiss the hem of her skirt if she agreed to come back with him.

She turned away from him and walked towards Elijah. Elijah could barely look her in the eye but it didn't matter to her. Her arms fastened behind his neck as she stepped into his personal space. They were standing so close that every line of her body touched his and the breath from his mouth fell on her lips.

'You were cruel to me once, but then you were also kind. You were heartless once, but then you whispered your love for me while you slept,' she said softly. 'There are a thousand reasons why loving you should be the last thing on my mind, but love is never logical, is it?'

Elijah stared at her as if she were some ghostly apparition.

'In the beginning, I had no memory of who I was, and it was easy to adore you then. But one day as you stood staring out of the window of my hospital room, you profile triggered something in my head, and viola, my memories returned.'

He made a strangling sound, but Elena had to get everything out in the open.

'I wanted to hate you. I wanted to make you fall in love with me and then break your heart as you'd so callously treated me all those years ago. I wanted to hurt you so badly,' she confessed, tears falling on her cheeks. 'But then you weren't the same man from all those years ago. You weren't Prince Mikaelson. You were just Elijah. And however hard I tried to make myself punish you, I failed.'

His hands rose tentatively to wipe the moisture off her cheeks.

'There was so much ugliness inside me. Everything that had happened had somehow changed me into something that even I couldn't recognize. I thought long and hard. I thought and thought, and you know the only thing that made sense to me was that my memories had to go. You could never know that I remembered everything. We could start anew without the threat of past lurking over us.'

She was openly crying now, great noisy sobs that drowned her words.

'Mornings, afternoons and evenings flew in your company. Smiles and happiness were all I knew. I thought we could make a future for us, but then I was living inside a bubble—cut off from reality.'

He gingerly pulled her close as if he were not sure whether she would receive his embrace.

'It was easy to put on a mask and pretend to be someone else. It was easy to dance with you and laugh. It was easy to forget the real world and exist as Amara for you.'

'I like you better this way,' he said.

'You're not angry?' she asked.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, her nose was runny and bright red, the tear trail on her cheeks had dried, and she'd never looked more beautiful to him than she did right now.

He shook his head and marveled at the circle's life made you turn in. He'd never thought Elena would accept him—faults and all—into her heart. It felt as if he were on the top of the world.

There were a lot of loose threads in their story, a lot of questions that needed answers, but then they'd their whole life to figure out those answers. They loved each other and that was the most important thing. They could sort out the rest.

'Say something,' she said.

'Marry me,' he whispered.

'Wh-What?' she stuttered.

'Marry me, Elena Gilbert.'

'Elijah—'

'Before you, I didn't know who I was, without you I didn't like who I became; with you, the world feels right. So, marry me, and I promise that I would love you through thick and thin, through snow and rain, through your PMS and my bad days at the office. I promise to love you till we're old and gray, till the dust settles over our headstones and we're destined for a rebirth. I promise to love you in this life and next, and in all our lives to come…'

'As I'll love you…' she repeated.

'So, marry me.'

'Yes…'

* * *

**And, that's a wrap!**

**I started writing this one on a whim and I was not sure where to take this story. There were days when real life got too much and I tried to escape into the lavish world of Prince Mikaelson. I grew with this story. From atrocious writing faux-pas, I managed to elevate myself to random, occasional grammar idiocies.**

**It took me more than two years to finish this story, and in those two years, my life has seen many changes. I may revisit this story sometime in future to rewrite it and work out all the kinks, but that is still a long time away.**

**To the wonderful, amazing people who've read "The Ugly Truth,"—you're the best. I know my grammar must have irritated you most of the times; you must have wanted my head on a plate for misplaced commas, but thank you so much for being patient.**

**God, I'm a mess right now!**

**I'm sick, and on top of that, I'm saying goodbye.**

**Goodbye, dear friends, and thank you for being an awesome, fantastic bunch…**


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